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In a test on fields in California last year, a plot of tomatoes looked exactly like the tomatoes growing next to it. But thanks to a tweak in how they were grown, they lasted longer: After they were harvested, they still looked and tasted fresh two weeks later. The new crop wasnt bred differently or genetically edited. Instead, the plants had been given an epigenetic treatment that fine-tunes certain traits without changing the plants DNA. That can happen either when the plant is a seed or by spraying a crop as it’s growing in the field. Decibel Bio, the startup behind the technology, is using the approach to help the food system deal with a range of growing challenges, including drought and extreme heat. The company emerged from stealth today, spinning out from another company called Sound Agriculture, with a $12 million financing round from Bill Gatess Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Future Ventures, Bayer, and Syngenta. Epigenetics is really a sort of frontier that hasnt been tapped into yet in plant science, says CEO and founder Travis Bayer (no relation to the family behind the agtech giant). Were at the forefront of that with our platform. The field of epigenetics studies how the environment changes the way genes are expressedin humans, for example, if we exercise or eat differently, our genes start to work differently, though the underlying DNA is the same. In the case of the tomatoes, exposing the seeds to certain pieces of the plants own DNA resulted in tuning down enzymes that naturally degrade the fruit. What were really doing is working with what the plant has, but just making a little bit less of that enzyme that is responsible for the cell wall degradation, Bayer says. The tomatoes lasted roughly twice as long as they otherwise would have. A similar approach for lettuce yielded greens that lasted three times as long without browning. In another set of approximately 50 trials that will run this summer in the Midwest, the startup will test how other treatments can help make corn drought-tolerant, better resist disease, or enhance yields. In a place like Iowa, where severe droughts are becoming more commonbut dont happen predictably every yearthe treatment for drought tolerance could help farmers adapt in real time. The state often has plenty of rain (or too much of it); switching completely to a drought-tolerant variety could mean lower yields in wet years. With Decibels platform, farmers could grow standard corn and then spray it with the new product. The shift in plant physiology happens in around a week. Our platform gives a grower the ability to kind of retune and rewire the plant physiology during the season, Bayer says. That’s something that hasn’t really been available to growers so far. If you plant a corn hybrid that doesn’t have drought tolerance and you have a drought, you don’t really have a way to deal with that. The company is starting in the U.S. but says theres an even greater opportunity to implement its technology in parts of the world with less irrigation, where farmers are completely dependent on rainfall. The idea is to smooth out the variability that growers see, so they can have a more predictable harvest, a more predictable income, more predictable food security in their region, he says. The basic platform can be used in multiple other ways. Some treatments could be applied to crops in advance of a major storm to help the plants survive floods. Another iteration could help keep plants growing under extreme heat. Treatments could also enhance photosynthesisor help crops use less fertilizer. The company has also tested approaches to help crops like soy and peas grow with extra protein, something that can be useful for making plant-based meat. The team plans to continue developing new products, with a focus on major row crops like corn and wheat. A new type of treatment for a particular crop can be developed within a matter of months. The approach could be employed commercially on farms as soon as next year, depending on pilot results and regulatory approval. (Though the method is new, it will likely be regulated as a “biostimulant” by the Environmental Protection Agency; since the DNA of the crops doesn’t change, it isn’t regulated as a genetically modified organism, or GMO.) As climate change progresses, it could be a critical tool to help the food system. “If you talk to farmers todayor even 10 years agoone thing that you hear over and over again is that the weather is more and more unpredictable every year,” Bayer says. “We know from climate models and a lot of data that we are seeing more extreme weather, and that impacts farmers directly on a day-to-day basis. Our big motivation here was, let’s try to give farmers some tools to adapt to this new reality.”
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E-Commerce
Nearly all job growth since 1980 has been in occupations that are social-skill intensive. Teamwork, for instance, is now considered very or extremely important in eight of 10 occupations. Not surprisingly, a Stanford study shows that people working collaboratively persist on a task for 64% longer than those working individually on the same task, and they exhibit higher levels of engagement. According to the platform LinkedIn, the most in-demand skills in 2024 include teamwork and communication. Jobs that require high levels of analytical and mathematical reasoning but low levels of relational skills have been declining because they are easier to automate. As a result, workers in positions requiring social skills are demanding higher wages. These trends align with the fact that there has been a decrease in demand for jobs involving routine tasks, whereas those that require the human touch for enhancing team productivity and flexible adaptation to changing circumstances are on the rise. David Deming, who studies social skills at Harvard University, analyzed team performance and showed that there really is such a thing as a team player. He was able to isolate and replicate the effect of an individual team members contribution across multiple groups, showing that a team player increases group performance quite meaningfully. Similarly, in a large research study referred to as Project Oxygen, Google examined what made the companys employees good managers. The assumption was that it was technical skills. In fact, most successful managers were relational individuals who made time for one-to-one meetings, helped employees work through problems, and took an interest in their lives. The future belongs to those with relational intelligence, and its vital to instill these skills from an early age. The workplace increasingly values the skills that are typically nurtured in a preschool-like environment. Paradoxically, however, preschools are starting to shift toward a more rigid, academically focused model reminiscent of the pedagogy of the industrial era, potentially neglecting the importance of play and peer interaction. James Heckman, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, conducted pioneering research establishing the equal importance of noncognitive abilitiesincluding social skillsalong-side cognitive ones. Heckman asserted that these attributes are teachable, although he pointed out that American educational institutions may not consistently focus on cultivating them. To prepare students for the future, education systems should focus on and measure relational intelligencethe ability to interact and work effectively with othersnot just mastery of academic skills or acquisition of content. A love of learning is also gaining importance in the ever-evolving world of work. Maintaining a thirst for learning is like having a dependable compass in a shifting landscape. We know that the average American will change jobs twelve times between the ages of 18 and 54, and will switch careers between three and seven times. About one in five American workers has a job with high exposure to artificial intelligence, according to OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. Over time, automation may create as many jobs as it eliminates, but those new jobs will require people to retrain and acquire new skills. As technology hurdles forward, those who embrace learning will navigate the twists and turns of the modern job market with greater ease. They will have a knack for staying in the know about the new tools, technologies, and industry trends that will be crucial for remaining competitive in their careers. But the significance of a love for learning goes beyond just professional growth. Its about personal empowerment. Its akin to having a versatile tool set for life. A curious and open attitude can make you more adaptable, more resilient, and a sharper problem solver. When you love learning, you tend to approach challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacles. That kind of mindset not only helps you flourish in your career but also enriches your personal life. In my opinion, a love of learning is an understudied competency, despite its vital role in human flourishing. What is a love of learning? It characterizes an individuals approach to acquiring new information and skills, encompassing both a general enthusiasm for learning and a pronounced interest in specific subject matter. When I think of a love of learning, I picture someone like my younger daughter, whose passion for dance and desire for mastery cause her to continue dancing across our living room after formally training at her dance school for five hours straight. When people possess a strong love of learning, they become mentally engaged and derive positive emotions from the process of acquiring new skills, satisfying their curiosity, building upon existing knowledge, or delving into entirely new topics. Young children simply love learning. Four-year-olds ask as many as two hundred to three hundred questions a day. How can we keep that love alive and well? Adapted excerpt from Love to Learn: The Transformative Power of Care and Connection in Early Education by Isabelle C. Hau (PublicAffairs, 2025).
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E-Commerce
Beauty mogul and Rhode founder Hailey Bieber recently posted a a series of editorial photos on her Instagram to tease an upcoming collaboration with Fila. One of the pictures is not like the rest. In it, Bieber is caught mid-gasp as an artful collection of vibrant carrots, ripe bananas, and glossy tomatoes tumble from a brown bag cradled in her arm. The image has ignited an impassioned discussion on social media. One X user wrote of Biebers post, That one influencer that predicted fresh food would become part of fashion in 2025, because groceries are too expensive, & its a status symbol to waste fresh produce ate so bad. The influencer in question is TikTok user @kfesteryga, whose account is dedicated to tracking where food is being positioned as a status symbol, from the Instagram accounts of the Kardashians to the bodice of Zendayas Met Gala outfit. While this theory is finding traction online (the aforementioned tweet has already racked up 507,000 likes), produce-as-status-symbol is a trend thats actually been cooking in various forms for years. According to Andrea Hernández, author of the food and beverage trends newsletter Snaxshot, Its not new so much as its now getting more attention because of conspiracy-style TikTok videos. Food industry experts may have sniffed this out years ago, but now, flexing with vegetables is primed to go fully mainstreamand the reality of the phenomenon is pretty depressing. How did we get here? Groceries as a fashion statement can be traced all the way back to the 1930s, designer Elizabeth Goodspeed points out for Its Nice That. But the trend has seen several revivals over the years, including the bacon craze of the 2010s or the twee cupcake fad of the same era. In 2014, the grocery store itself became a site of high fashion when Chanel hosted a supermarket-themed show that was basically unavoidable on fashion Twitter. Months later, Kristen Stewart was photographed by Elle magazine sandwiched delicately between rows of lush green lettuce and processed peanut butter. In the past few years, the trend has trickled down from runways and magazine spreads into the hands of the average consumer, most often in the form of kitschy novelty goods. There have been bags inspired by Heinz packets and pizza boxes, hand-beaded butter purses, and enough tomato-inspired prints to last a lifetime. The food-inspired design frenzy has historically been unoffensive. Recently, though, a bleaker take on the trends appears to be emerging, and it strips away the glitz and whimsy to reveal the unfortunate truth: Fresh produce is increasingly considered a luxury good. Carrot-chic Ongoing inflation has consistently ranked as a central concern for Americans in the years since the pandemic, and 2025 is no different. According to a report this month from the Labor Department, the consumer price index increased 3% year-over-year. The index accounts for rises in key purchases like gas, cars, and groceries. [Groceries-as-luxury] is definitely a post-2020 sentiment, and as were halfway in the decade, its no surprise to see it permeate into the mainstream, Hernández says. Food scarcity and grocery prices skyrocketing is real, and our generation made fancy smoothies a form of affordable affluence. Its Gen Zs avocado toast trope. Indeed, despite outrage over the ever-increasing cost of living, Gen Z seems almost morbidly fascinated with trends like Erewhons $20 smoothies or, more recently, the stores viral $19 strawberry. You cant afford a house, but you can splurge on $25 smoothies, Hernández quips. Meanwhile, on social media, Gen Zers are earnestly romanticizing a frugal adult life, one that still seems out of reach in the current economic climate: One day youll be buying groceries to cook dinner in the small apartment you rent, a viral aspirational tweet reads. As grocery prices surge, luxury foods gain more mystique and social clout. Now, though, prices are so prohibitive that access to plain old produce is becoming a wealth signaler. Biebers recent Instagram post is one example of this shift, but, on her TikTok account, @kfesteryga has documented plenty of other recent instances of the trend. These include an Instagram story from Kim Kardashian highlighting an untouched plate of out-of-season grapes; a Stylist cover of Adam Brody next to a cake topped with bright red cherries; and a photo shoot of Pamela Anderson enjoying a multitier fruit platter. These posts show that theres no longer the need for the aesthetic trappings of the supermarket or the eye-catching repurposing of processed foods into leather handbags to convey a sense of exclusivity. A simple brown bag of carrots and bananas can do that all by itself.
Category:
E-Commerce
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