Growing $20,000-a-Gram Medicine in a Warehouse | Sam Bertram

"Everyone gets cancer five times a day — your body already knows how to take care of it."

Sam Bertram is the co-founder and CEO of OnePointOne, the vertical-farming company behind the Willo brand. With his brother John (CTO), Sam is building fully automated indoor farms — powered by AutoStore robotics, AI, and precision LED light — that grow nutrient-dense produce in about 15 days, with no soil and no sunlight. But the vision goes far beyond salad: using plants as living factories to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade molecules (like monoclonal antibodies) at a fraction of today's cost, and eventually "closing the loop" on human nutrition — food grown to your own blood work.

*Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+: *
go.neuroathletics.com.au/yout... (youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…)

Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.

_____

TOPICS DISCUSSED

00:00 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c) – Cold open: bold claims & who is Sam Bertram
00:51 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=51s) – Why vertical farms collapse (Bowery) & how OnePointOne survived
05:49 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=349s) – The number that started it all: 1.1 billion malnourished
07:30 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=450s) – Why micronutrient deficiency is the real killer
08:21 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=501s) – What OnePointOne actually is: "a box that grows plants"
10:03 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=603s) – Training plants with light & water to boost nutrients
11:00 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=660s) – Closing the loop: food matched to your body's data
12:28 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=748s) – The plan for 1,000 farms & the AutoStore partnership
15:46 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=946s) – Plant biology 101: growing with no soil, no sun
18:11 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1091s) – The robots — and why humans are still essential
21:27 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1287s) – Pesticides, washing produce & disease clusters
23:53 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1433s) – Beet greens for cancer patients & the Whole Foods deal
24:42 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1482s) – A 13-person company run on AI
25:15 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1515s) – The 15-day crop & cracking the cost code
27:11 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1631s) – Biology vs. software: what really makes it work
28:01 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1681s) – Humanoid robots, ~5 years away
30:27 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=1827s) – Why raise $80M and not $500M
33:56 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2036s) – What they do to a plant that nature never would
36:28 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2188s) – Expanding crops: strawberries, cannabis, mushrooms
38:05 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2285s) – Growing food & materials in space (Elon, text back)
39:38 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2378s) – Personalized food grown from your blood test
40:24 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2424s) – Food as medicine & the truth about Western medicine
41:11 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2471s) – Sam's mystery illness: 8 years without exercise
44:23 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2663s) – Plants as medicine — who "fed and dosed" the world?
49:32 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=2972s) – Manufacturing pharmaceutical molecules inside plants
50:18 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3018s) – Replicating $30–40k drugs cheaply (Rituximab, Lecanemab)
54:21 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3261s) – Why the Middle East may beat the US, RFK Jr & MAHA
55:11 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3311s) – Genetics, cancer & the healthy 80–90%
57:35 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3455s) – Taste: beating junk food at its own game
58:27 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3507s) – Why good food got so expensive (money printing)
59:14 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3554s) – A world without hunger — how far away?
1:00:24 (youtube.com/watch?v=7brf4bG3U1c&t=3624s) – Tasting the farm: microgreens, bok choy, mizuna & kale
_______

Thank you to our sponsors

Jones Road Beauty: youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…
Use code LOUISA for a free full-size mascara with your purchase (and mention The Neuro Experience podcast when they ask where you heard about them)

Qualia: qualialife.com/neuro (youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…)
Use code NEURO for 50% off Qualia Magnesium+

Cure Hydration: youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…
Use code NEURO for 20% off (also available on Amazon)
_______

I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.

My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.
If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.

Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → bit.ly/3ewI5P0 (youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…)
Instagram: / louisanicola_ (youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…)
Twitter : / louisanicola_ (youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&a…)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices