Former Monsanto CTO on Vaccine Testing, Food Security, and What the Pandemic Reveals

Vance Crowe [00:00:01] As the crow flies on the Vance Crow podcast, Dr. Rob Fraley, welcome to the podcast

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:00:11] Vance. Good to see you again.

Vance Crowe [00:00:13] So you are the former CTO of Monsanto. Many consider you the godfather of modern biotechnology and GMO crops, and you and I had planned an interview months ago to happen today, but then the Coronavirus pandemic happened, and so we've changed everything. So I wanna start off with a question. How are you weathering this storm? When did you first take coronavirus seriously, and what actions have you taken as a result?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:00:42] Well, you know, I'd say the last month it's gotten my attention. My wife and I and daughter have, have pretty much stayed at home with all the, the social distancing for the last several weeks. Every once in a while I get out to the grocery store with my mask, and otherwise I spend a lot of time here in my office doing a little reading and catching up on things and trying to stay as active as I can with, with all the modern technology we have to stay connected.

Vance Crowe [00:01:13] So at one point in time, you were at the helm of probably the most important agriculture company on the face of the earth. You were a, a part of a very small team, and now you're in retirement. So what is the difference between what you would've been doing if you'd have been running Monsanto right now and and what you're doing in retirement?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:01:34] Well, you know, that's a big one. I've, I've actually been retired for a little bit over a year, and then I consulted with, with Bayer. And so I'm, I'm just getting really fully into the, the transition and, you know, I've looked at some other things to, to do and keep busy, but what I'm really passionate about is leading the outreach for science-based communication, you know, regarding really the importance of innovation in ag and the food chain. So, you know, I'm keeping connected with several universities, several groups that are doing a startup here in St. Louis Bio, STL, in the Danford Center. And then in the last month or so, I've become involved with the US Ranchers and Farmers Alliance. I don't know if you know that organization, but their, their focus is on bringing all of the different ag food companies together across the, the ag and food chain, and really generate, you know, science-based messages regarding the, you know, the importance of ag and food production. And using that vehicle to bring those voices together, to amplify 'em and really to reach out directly to the consumer regarding the, you know, the incredible importance of, of innovation in these industries.

Vance Crowe [00:03:04] I think that there could not be a better guest that I could have on right now than you, because we are about to enter a very, very important scientific conversation with the whole society when it's gonna be things like, when will we know that a vaccine is safe to use? At what point should we decide that we need to get the economy going relative to the safety of people. And you as the, as the one that was at the helm of a biotech company, as you're putting a new food into the market, what did you learn about what kind of testing people need to have to make them feel confident? And what sort of timelines and where do you put your trust in in a situation like this?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:03:45] Well, certainly, you know, in a highly regulated industry like the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural industry, you know, I always used to make the point that for us to introduce a new biotech seed or food into the marketplace, you know, we would ultimately do the regulatory testing and submit data to the FDA, the USDA and the EPA. And, you know, since us is such a major grain and food producer, you know, those grains would also be exported or shipped to, you know, 40 or 50 countries around the world. And so we would do additional testing based on, you know, the import requirements from the various ministries of health environment, technology from the various companies. So, you know, there's a lot of work going on to, to do the, the testing and, and make sure that these products have the, the benefits that, that we're all hoping for. But I guess, you know, if you ask me, Vance, the one thing that I've really learned is, although it takes incredible science to create great products, it also takes a, a real commitment to communication to the public and to our policy and decision makers to make sure that those products are accepted, they're understood, and, you know, reach them the intended marketplace. And so one of the things that's gonna be so important, you know, whether we're developing a new food product or a new vaccine, is to reach out to the public and make sure that they understand clearly the, the benefits and the use and any of the, you know, challenges or issues associated with, with the new technology.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:05:38] So that needs to be a, a very public conversation. You know, over the years we've, we've

Vance Crowe [00:05:44] Night, we've certainly seen, last night I ran a, a Twitter poll, which is certainly not scientific, right? You, you have no idea who's answering the poll. You may have self-selected just a whole bunch of people that already think like you, but I, I was really interested.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:05:57] No, I don't, I don't remember getting that one. Did you send that one to me?

Vance Crowe [00:06:00] No, I just posted it. But I'll, I will send it to you. And the question was, how much testing would you have to have of a vaccine before you think it should become mandatory for participation in society? Right? If you found out smallpox was back, we'd be back doing vaccines. So I put up there, is it one month, six months, one year or more, or never? And I was shocked because 46%, the last time I checked, 46% of the people said less than six months it would be okay to have a mandatory vaccine. And then you have the other 53% or whatever it is saying, one plus year or more. That is a political divide that is going to have to be bridged somehow because you can't have 50% thinking one way and 50% thinking the other. How would you approach this, this issue knowing that we don't actually know how long it'll take to come up with a vaccine?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:06:57] Well, as you know, there's an incredible amount of science going on. I was just, you know, over the last couple of weeks I've been studying, you know, the coronavirus outbreak and a lot of the science. And, you know, one, one of the things that, you know, as I think about reasons to be optimistic a about this for the future, you know, first of all, I mean, we've seen a, you know, an incredible unifying set of responses from our, our caregivers and our healthcare community. That's been remarkable. You know, it's been, for me, it's been exciting to see how many companies, small, large public private companies, you know, really dedicate efforts to create, you know, PPEs and supplies and other, other materials that are needed to, to help combat the, the coronavirus. And of course, you know, I, I have really been amazed at the public response. I'm so proud of how people have, have really handled, you know, for many, this is probably, you know, the greatest, you know, healthcare threat or challenge they've seen in their life. So that's, that's, that's so, you know, it, it gives me confidence for the future. But, you know, as a scientist, I, I am blown away by the scientific community's response to really, you know, addressing the coronavirus problem. I mean, for perspective, you know, when, when the AIDS virus broke out several years ago, you know, you know, the technology was different.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:08:33] It really took years to get the, the sequence of the, the viral genome. In the case of the coronavirus, literally within weeks when the, the outbreak occurred in China and the virus was first isolated, the scientists had already created the full length sequence of the, of the virus and shared that information broadly across the world. And, and that immediately enabled scientists to use, you know, DNA and nucleic acid detection technologies to come up with, with rapid tests. And, you know, just last week Abbott announced that they have now a five minute test that can be conducted literally in the, in the doctor's office. So that's exciting. But now knowing the, the structure of the virus, you know, people have been able to identify possible treatments. We know that the, you know, that the virus has been modified to bind to a particular receptor on the human cell. That's the ACE two receptor. Knowing that there's ways of designing interventions, having that sequence of the, of the virus s protein enables a, a variety of approaches to create vaccines. The, the last time I looked, there were over 40 different groups around the world taking different approaches to vaccines, which ranged from the, you know, very traditional approaches that have been used since the, the time of Louis pasture to now really more modern techniques using just a snippet of the viral genome and being able to create, you know, very, very potent antibody reactions and antigens that can be used for vaccines.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:10:22] So the, the, the scientific community has really responded. I, I expect to see a pretty rapid response in terms of, of being able to create vaccines that will be, you know, thoroughly tested, very effective and, and very safe. But I still think it gets down to the point that your survey emphasizes, and that is the science is one thing, but we, we will need a, an incredible communication effort. You know, as you know, there's still a, a division in this country regarding the, the role of science and vaccines and everything from measles and mumps to other vaccines that, that some individuals are electing not to, not to use for themselves or for their children. And I think, you know, so much of that has been based on misinformation through social media and on the internet, that the only way to really address that is to make sure that the, the scientific efforts to create those vaccines are also accompanied by, you know, a very transparent communication effort to ensure that people not only understand the benefits of that technology for themselves and for their family, but the importance of creating, you know, an immunity across the population so that we don't see subsequent, you know, cycles of outbreak. You know, as the economy opens up and, and people start to move again.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:11:55] And as we ultimately, you know, enter another flu season,

Vance Crowe [00:12:00] You know, I felt like I was relatively naive just a few months ago. So I took a trip up to Alberta and everything was fine, it was way remote, but this was at the point when I definitely knew Coronavirus was going on, and I had friends telling me that I should wear a mask. And then I was also hearing from the officials that, Hey, you don't need to wear a mask. It's, it's really needs to be reserved for healthcare professionals. And you think on some level they were doing that maybe as, as mistake on how well those things would work, or maybe they were doing it as a, as a lie that allowed them to get the healthcare professionals, the, the materials they needed. But either way, the rapid change from don't use masks to use masks now, I think will cause a lot of problems when it comes to when to believe people on whether or not it's safe to come outta your houses. The, the other things around this disease, like how, how, how fatal is it? How contagious is it? What do you think needs to be done to bridge when you already have one major, you know, international change of pace when they thought one thing and now we're going to another?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:13:11] Well, I think that just reflects the, the fast movement. I mean, you know, it was, it was only a few months ago when WHO said that this virus didn't communicate from person to person. And, you know, so there's, you know, as the science has evolved and we've learned more, and you know, I'm sure you've seen studies on droplet transmission and you know, you know, the, the, I've always thought myself that the, you know, the calculations, you know, require both the numerator and a denominator. And until we really get the, the testing to the level

Vance Crowe [00:13:48] Where, can you explain what that means, the denominator part of that?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:13:51] Well, I mean, it, it is hard to, to, to determine how virulent something is if you don't know how many people are infected. And we really don't, because the only numbers we have are on those limited percent of the population that have actually been tested. And a variety of reports from different countries indicate that a large portion, I, I've seen numbers as high as 40, 50, 60% of the people who will actually ultimately be shown to have contacted the coronavirus are asymptomatic. So, you know, we, the only thing we really know are the, the people who have tested positive and you know, unfortunately any fatalities that have been, you know, confirmed as a result of it. But we really don't know the, the true state of the, of the level of infection. Now, again, I think science comes to, to bear on that because, you know, they are gonna be developing very sophisticated assays to determine if, you know, if individuals have been infected, whether or not they carry, you know, antibodies to the coronavirus as an indicator. And that's going to give us the, the, the true indication of, of both the virulence and the lethality of the virus. So I think in the meantime, you know, what I sense is that the information, although, you know, if you think about it, this has been going on for really just a few very, very dramatic months. But we're learning a lot. And what I sense is that the communication and the information, you know, both around the world and across the country and from the variety of different states is all now really coalescing into, you know, general recommendations regarding, you know, individual safety, PPE that are appropriate, isolation, isolation distances.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:15:42] And so, you know, I think given the, given the, the global nature of this pandemic, I'm actually, you know, I, I guess I'm pretty optimistic on the, not only, you know, the way the, the public has responded, but the way the, the science is, is creating ultimately, I think the ability to, to intervene and, and solve this particular crisis.

Vance Crowe [00:16:07] So you're in a rare position in that you just recently got done running a multinational corporation with employees all over the world. And one of the challenges of all businesses, but in particular in agriculture, is you can't stop the machines if you wanna make sure crops are gonna go in the ground and people are gonna get fed. So if you were at the helm making employment decisions and trying to decide who's essential, what's essential, how do you keep going? How would you be thinking through this problem with your team?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:16:37] Well, yeah, as you know, you know, there's nothing more essential than, you know, healthcare and food as we think about this crisis. And then both, you know, obviously both healthcare and everyone and all of the services affiliated with that, the transportation services, anyone affiliated with food or food production are essential services. And, you know, there are some research projects that are essential, for example, the work that is, that is underway right now to develop and transport the seeds that are gonna be planted across the country this spring in order to produce the, the crops and food that we will need for the future. So, you know, those are clearly essential and those kind of activities are going on other areas, you know, of, of research or can be handled remotely. There's a lot of, as you know, an explosion of, of, of, of ability to connect on, on social media with a variety of, and our, our company has been been very advanced in that. So a lot of the, the efforts can, can continue in that way. But, you know, i a as important as agriculture and food production is, I'm, I'm also, you know, concerned, you know, the average age of a farmer in the United States is 58 years old. So almost by definition they're in a, in a high risk class.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:18:11] Other thing,

Vance Crowe [00:18:11] Nobody's talking about that right now. Nobody is saying that the other Yeah, go ahead.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:18:15] Well, that, well for, you know, I guess the, if there is a, of farming in a lot of agriculture isn't in high dense population areas, and, you know, some of the states with the most important to food production are those states that have, that have, you know, lower population and expanses. So that's a, that's a, a bright side to this. What I do worry about is, you know, as we think about crops that, that are important to consumers, you know, a still a large number of those crops need to be hand harvested. And I'm, I'm saddened by so many reports of, of crops that can't be harvested because there's not available labor today in order to pick the blueberries or pick some of the, the important vegetables. And so that's, that's a challenge that could, could influence us significantly longer term, a fair amount of employees for on farms come from Eastern Europe, come from South Africa, come from Australia. And so, you know, as transportation of is and, you know, communication and travel becomes limited, I think that could represent a challenge, you know, for us agriculture through this production season. So it's a, it's a top of mind concern even at this point.

Vance Crowe [00:19:40] So, so what do you think is gonna be, the world is gonna look like in two weeks? Will we have, have stayed in place? What will be going on with the economy? How, how do you think people will be thinking about their heading back to work in two weeks?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:19:56] Well, it's a, it's a great question. And, you know, everybody has a, a view or an opinion. I mean, I'm looking at like everyone else, the, the data in terms of infection rates and, and not unfortunately, you know, the deaths attributed to coronavirus. The general models are saying, you know, that those are gonna peak in the next couple of of weeks. So, you know, I I hope in, in a few weeks to answer your question, that we can start to see the, a little bit of light at the, at the end of the tunnel. And, you know, as I said earlier, I'm, you know, I guess as a scientist, I, I, I'm always a, a bit of an optimist 'cause I, I'm, there's so many, you know, wonderful advances occurring, you know, both in the, the biotechnology and the healthcare world that I think is really closing in on what will be a number of, of both treatments and immunizations and, you know, tests to, to help understand, monitor control and eliminate the, the, the coronavirus.

Vance Crowe [00:21:02] So you've been a person that has been able to see the future and act on it, make investments into biotech, into scientists, that their results of their work isn't gonna play out for 10, 15, 20 years. What, right now, do you think with the, with the wild impacts that Coronavirus is having on the economy and, and things that are changing, what do you think is going to change the most? Where do you see the horizon looking different now that we're in a, we're heading into a post corona world?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:21:32] Let, let me do it two ways. Let me do, first of all the things that, that I think we need to reflect on. So the first thing is, I mean, like everybody else, you know, I go to the grocery store and it's, it's hard to find, you know, certain supplies, you know, whether it's toilet paper or hand sanitizers or alcohol. But so far we've been blessed in this country that the, the food supply is, is there. So I, I can never take it for granted, but, you know, one of the things that, you know, I just wanna put a a a real shout out for is everybody who is, you know, involved in the, in the food production system and you know, from the, the farmers and the processors to the folks involved in shipping and transportation to, you know, the folks who are stocking the shelves and at the checkout counter, you know, they've been doing a wonderful job and, you know, never want to take it for granted. But, you know, one of the things that in general we haven't worried about is the availability of food. And so many people have, you know, contributed to, to supplying food for shelters and contributions and volunteers. You know, I think we can look back and say, one of the real strengths of this country, and one of the real blessings is that we are a food secure country. And you know, not only can we you meet our own deme, meet our own demands, but you know, we ship food to countries around the world. And, you know, at a time like this, you know, I I'm glad that's an industry that we haven't outsourced.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:23:08] It's an industry that we can count on. And I think it really points to how important it is. You

Vance Crowe [00:23:13] Know, if I can interrupt you. There, there, there's, there's a, so you and I have known each other for a long time and I know that when you and I were both going out and speaking, you had always had a place where you said local matters. You've gotta have these other versions like organic and other means of production. And to be totally honest, Rob, I thought you were kind of putting people on about that. I thought you were the, the head of the large corporation that had to kind of pat the other system on the head to be like, oh, that's a nice thing. But now in Coronavirus, I am shocked awake to the idea that we need a variety of food systems. You need people that are producing on the local level so that you can have ways of getting chicken and beef and, and fresh vegetables that are outside of the traditional system, so that that way when we apply the, the pressure by not having restaurants or not having nearly as many, you have other outlets. So I was very, very shocked by how much my belief in efficiency at all costs was, was really pretty wrong. Do you feel that sense now that you're watching how the food system is changing? I mean it's it's been very resilient. I I agree with you a hundred percent.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:24:30] Yeah. I think, you know, as, as I've always said, I mean, I start from the consumer and what, what our role is, you know, I think in the food production system is com is to meet that demand that the consumer has. And fortunately in this country, we have a, a variety of consumer interests. We have a variety of production systems, we have a variety of both crop and animal products that, you know, that fill our shelves and our food supply. And, and I absolutely believe that that's a strength of our country to be able to have, you know, that kind of local production and, you know, different technologies, different paths to production, I think all complement it. I think that the great thing about local production, of course, is that it, it does provide that resiliency you're talking about. I think it also, you know, gets more and more people engaged in what is truly a, a, a vital industry. I mean, in this country, probably less than 2% of the population is involved in agriculture. Probably another 15 or 20% is involved in food processing and food production and delivery. So it's, it's still a very important part of our economy and it it's been very resilient, you know, so in, in addition to, to that, I think the other thing I would hope for is that people realize that, you know, we have had a, a pandemic challenge like this almost every 10 years. You can go back to age, you can go back to sars, you can go to mers, and now the, you know, COVID-19 nature is always gonna throw changes and, you know, curve balls really in terms of new pathogens and new pests.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:26:17] And so for me, one, one of the things that, again, I I I'm just so in awe of is how, you know, the, the advanced scientific tools, whether it's the speed at which we can sequence a genome or the ability to rapidly identify the portion of that virus gene that can allow us to make the, the best antibodies or the best vaccines that, that, that is now literally done in days and weeks versus months or years just a, a bit ago. And so that, that investment in research, you know, whether it's public sector research, private sector research, and frankly whether it's in healthcare or dealing with crop pests or livestock diseases, it is really an important investment and an insurance policy for us in the future, knowing that we are inevitably going to be addressing these types of challenges in a global world. And so, you know, I hope one of the things that, that comes out of this is that we, we all understand and recognize, you know, the importance of, of the investment that this country and frankly countries around the world, you know, make in the kind of basic research and science that gives us the capability to understand, respond, and mitigate with the speed at which we can do today. You know, I know, you know, you know, we've, we live in a world where everything is almost instantaneous.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:27:49] And, and that's really the expectation at, and I look at the, the scientific response to the coronavirus and, and where we stand and how many entities around the world are engaged in solutions that you literally can see every day that are coming on the internet or in press releases or, you know, on the, the television programs. It is mind boggling to, to see the effort and the, the approaches that are taking to help defeat this, this, you know, endemic.

Vance Crowe [00:28:24] So when you think about the, the new technology that's coming online, the speed with which things are happening, the amount of sharing that's going on, what do you think is the role of IP intellectual property in all of this? Because you've been in a world where so much of your technology was protected by patents, but we're in a different game. So do you, what, do you have any thoughts on how we should think about IP during the time of a pandemic?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:28:50] Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, there's always a, a balance between the IP protection and licensing and broad use. And you know, in our case, you know, with, you know, with the history of products we developed, one of the things that, that I was always the, the proudest about Vance was early on we made the decision to license our technology broadly. So while, while our company, you know, enjoyed the benefits of, of biotech traits or new products with our seeds, you know, we also licensed I think over 200 other, you know, companies including some of what would've been viewed as our, our toughest competitors.

Vance Crowe [00:29:30] So for people that aren't aware of seeds, is that, is that in the seed industry you have seeds that you're growing that are competitive. Pioneer has seeds that are different than Monsanto at the time, which would be bear now. And what you're saying is we allowed a genetic engineered solution that we had put in our seeds to be used in somebody else's seeds. They paid us a fee for using that, but they were also able to go out to the market. So it wasn't like you can only get these protections if you buy Monsanto seeds. So just for people that aren't aware of how that, how that works,

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:30:01] Vince, you you got that down. Well, and, and like I said, it's was really one of our most important decisions and we, we broadly licensed that technology. But the other thing, and I think directly to the point of your question was we also donated that technology broadly through collaborations with the Gates Foundation through specific organizations that were involved in transfer of technology to developing countries. In fact, you know, as I go back in just a little bit of ancient history for you, even before we launched the first biotech seed products in the US in, in 1996 and 1997, we had already worked with others and in an effort that was led by Dr. Norman Borlaug to license free of charge that technology to a number of developing countries and organizations that would be, you know, creating and sharing that technology. So I think, you know, to the heart of your question, you know, IP under special conditions like this is, is really the beginning of the ability to, to license and exchange technology. And so, you know, I think it's always a balancing act between the, the reward of intellectual property that encourages companies to make the investment and then the, the, the judicial use of that IP to make sure that it reaches the public and has its greatest, you know, benefit. So, you know, you'd asked me the question about how life is gonna look after this is over, and I talked about the, the importance of supporting basic science and the importance of agriculture.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:31:40] I think there's gonna be some changes in agriculture.

Vance Crowe [00:31:42] What, what is that? What changes do you think?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:31:43] Well, I think, you know, a couple of things that I see changed as, as a result of, you know, work, working our way through this pandemic. You know, we, we talked about one labor availability and you know, we, we bring a lot of labor in to manage, manage our farms. So immigration challenges and just movement of people is something that's top of mind. I think one of the, the ramifications of that is it's gonna encourage even more investment in automation and robotics on the farm. You know, we're gonna have to be more creative on, on how we harvest, how we produce and process food. And I think it's gonna put even more focus on phytosanitary measures, how we package, how we distribute. I think those are gonna be top of mind for consumers and you know, we'll be both areas of challenge, but also business opportunity as we, as we go forward.

Vance Crowe [00:32:41] You know, as you say that with the business opportunity, the thing that I think is really important is cities preparing for starting back up. Because I think that we're gonna have my, in my opinion, the way that the containment will end up rolling out is that cities on their own regions will say, Hey, we've got it pretty well contained, we're gonna start opening up. So whichever cities make the changes that they need to allow manufacturing and other types of work to come, we're gonna reshore a lot of things. And my hope is that St. Louis becomes not only the biotech hub, the plant hub, but the drone hub. I hope that we change the rules, whatever we need to do to make it as valuable as possible to be in this place making agricultural drones. That's what I wanna see.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:33:24] Yeah, I think the, the robotics and the automation will be big. I think the phytosanitary, whether it's assays, screens, packaging, will be top of mind. I think the other thing to think about longer term is, you know, I think we will, we, we will see more of a shift coming out of this in, in how people eat. And so as a result of that, I mean, I don't know how you spent a lot of your time, but I've probably done more cooking in the last two months and, and that I Oh,

Vance Crowe [00:33:55] Amen.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:33:55] That I have in the last few years. And you know, I think we're gonna see pattern changes in terms of what crops we will grow, what foods people will eat, how those foods will be prepared and, and processes. So that's, again, both gonna be an opportunity and a challenge. I think the other thing that, that we'll see influencing, you know, and I'll, I'll talk about it through the agriculture and the rural lens, you know, the, the need to be connected going through this crisis has been top of mind for everybody. And social media has played a, a huge role in that. You know, there's a, there's a large part of the US in rural America that still doesn't have high speed internet and still doesn't have the, the connectivity that we're gonna need. And I think that's gonna put a, an additional focus on, as we think about rebuilding our infrastructure, I think that's gonna be a very important and top of mind as we, as we think about, you know, the things we need to do for the future.

Vance Crowe [00:34:58] Oh, a hundred percent. And I mean, I was saying this the other day on, on Twitter, not only the, the rural one is a huge one, and that one's a really difficult problem to solve because you, it takes a lot of infrastructure for few people, but also in the cities, the city that has the most access to fiber internet to, to super high speed will have a huge incentive for people to move there, to have their houses there. Because if you have another pandemic and you're locked in, you are gonna wanna be able to use way more technology than what we're even using right now. Like, just webcams on computers won't be what we're doing in five years. We'll have the, I have, have you ever tried a virtual reality headset?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:35:39] Absolutely, yeah.

Vance Crowe [00:35:40] I mean there, there is no reason by the time we have the next pandemic that people aren't doing work virtually with those on, because it's so much more encompassing of an experience, you could do so much more, but you can't do it unless you have high speed internet. So my hope is this is a call to cities, people that are organizing and to say, do what it takes to get fiber everywhere.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:36:01] Yeah, I think you're right. And you know, whether it's broadly how we communicate, how we do business, how we procure our goods and services, and frankly, and probably most important from a rural perspective, how we deliver healthcare. You know, the, the various, you know, telemedical connections that are, you know, could and should be available are gonna be, are gonna be right at the top of the list. So I see all of those being

Vance Crowe [00:36:30] Grounded. Have you seen a doc doing Teladoc yet?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:36:32] Oh yeah. Yeah. It's,

Vance Crowe [00:36:33] It's, it's awesome. It's the best thing. It's, my wife has a physical therapy business and she went to doing virtual, she now is consulting with people that are, that are having pain when they're running. She just says, take a video from this angle, from a video, from that angle, ship it to me, I can analyze it. We'll get on the phone and we can fix your running problem. And this has gotta be happening all over the country right now.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:36:54] And we're, we're gonna see an explosion of sensors, diagnostic kits, devices that do a variety of monitoring. So, you know, those are all, those are all gonna be accelerated both in terms of their importance, but also, you know, I think, you know, this has been a, a period of rapid adoption probably by a lot of new users. And so we're gonna, we will have trained a, a new, a new component of the, you know, of our population to expect and demand these kind of services. Yeah. So I think that's across agriculture, food production, healthcare, you know, a broad impact.

Vance Crowe [00:37:33] Well, what do you think, I mean, I think one of the ways that innovation is already happening faster is we've knocked down regulation and there may be some level of regulation that you have to have, but this might be a good time for us to have a brush fire and see what grows back as necessary.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:37:49] Well, I'm, I'm always a, a fan of that. I mean, it's always the balance between, you know, the protection you provide versus the, you know, the cost and the speed. And, you know, I, I think, you know, I think what's important is that all of that gets reexamined. You know, 'cause you know, both are important and we just need to make sure we're at the right middle ground to, to do both.

Vance Crowe [00:38:14] So final question. You marshaled the, the intellectual efforts of thousands of scientists, some of the most brilliant scientists in the plant world right now. Scientists are, are incredibly important in this, in this fight and of coronavirus. What advice do you have for people leading groups of scientists? How do you keep people motivated? How do you keep 'em working through a time of fear? What, what do you have to say that can, can help people learn from what you learned over the many years of running Monsanto?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:38:46] Well, I tell you the, the first thing is, is that individuals are just incredibly passionate. And I think the call to action that, you know, whether it's the challenge to address the, the quick response to a coronavirus, whether it's the challenge to continue to increase the yields and productivity of food crops so that we can meet the demand of, of 10 billion people or the development of new methods that allow us to farm more sustainably and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I think there's a high level motivation. Now, the biggest challenge is, is keeping individuals, making sure they observe the, the appropriate social distancing and the things that we need to do in the short term to, to work our way through the, the pandemic. But, you know, I have never, ever, ever seen a, a lack of passion or interest. But what I hope again is that, you know, as a society, both in the US and around the world, we understand the importance of investing in the basic sciences across healthcare, agriculture, animal and crop agriculture. Because, you know, we need these innovations in healthcare. We need innovations in agriculture to continue to meet, you know, the escalating demand for food, but also, you know, producing crops in a way that are, that is more sustainable and more beneficial to the planet.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:40:23] And so there's a, there's, I think, you know, these are some of the most important careers there are in the world. I think they have enormous benefit to society. And I think it, you know, as I reflect going through this pandemic, as I said, I am in awe of how the scientific community has, has responded broadly to, to these, these challenges. And you know, I think in many ways it can help lead the, you know, what I sense is gonna occur later on is, you know, we will get through this, we will get through this because we've all worked and we've all pulled together. A big part of that has been the, the medical community and the first responders and all of the companies that have, that have engaged to help meet the demand. And, and you know, I think this can be a real unifying impact across our culture and society. And I, I really hope for that. You know, so I'm a, I'm an optimist. I, I believe we will weather this storm and we will come out the, the other side stronger, smarter, and better prepared to address the next challenge that that nature turns our way.

Vance Crowe [00:41:38] And if people wanted to follow you or comment on, on anything we've talked about here on, on, how can they get ahold of you?

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:41:46] Well, a couple of ways. So I'm just putting in my own website, Rob Fraley, but at, on Twitter, my Twitter handle is at Rob Fraley, R-O-B-B-F-R-A-L-E-Y. And you can always follow me on, on LinkedIn. And so, and

Vance Crowe [00:42:04] If people comment to you, they can, they can talk with the CTO of the farmer, former largest biotech company in the history of the planet. Yeah,

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:42:12] They'll dance. Like, I, I don't know if I can, I don't know if I can live up to that reputation, but I can tell you it, it's, it's really, it's really exciting to, to be here hunkered down on the sideline, watching and reading and seeing how how scientists around the world are, are addressing this challenge and, and how our healthcare workers and our healthcare community is, is responding. You know, we have a lot, lot to be thankful for. And, and you know, for me it's, it's all about those individuals and, and what they've done. Those are the, those are the heroes that matter.

Vance Crowe [00:42:51] Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk. I hope you view your scientific knowledge and leadership as, as something that's essential. So thank you so much. Appreciate

Monsanto's Robb Fraley [00:43:00] It, Vance. All the best and keep, keep on with the podcast. Thank

Vance Crowe [00:43:04] You.