Several years ago I was writing about the convergence of AI and genomics in agriculture:
"The disruptions of new technology, big data and genomics (applications like FieldScripts, ACRES, MyJohnDeere or the new concept Kinze planters that switch hybrids on the go etc.) will require the market to continue to offer a range of choices in seeds and genetics to tailor to each producer's circumstances of time and place." (1)
We have also seen a similar convergence in healthcare:
"A series of breakthroughs in medical science and information technology are triggering a convergence between the healthcare industry and the life sciences industry, a convergence that will quickly lead to more intimate—and interactive—relationships among people, their doctors, and biopharmaceutical companies." (2)
This excellent segment on WBUR just a few years later picks up on the same themes:
Nobel Laureate and MIT Institute professor Phil Sharp has an even broader vision of this convergence: It’s not just computer science and biology that are converging, but engineering, physics, material science and agriculture too, he says.
“Life science is part of all of those processes and bringing physicists and engineering and information technology together to integrate life science with the translation to solving those problems is what convergence is about,” Sharp says. “It'll be decades of exciting science and exciting technology.” (3)
Outcomes and Value Based Pricing
Due to this convergence, better data and technology are creating new opportunities. Health insurance companies, healthcare providers, and seed companies are entering into value based contracts where payments are based on outcomes and quality.
In healthcare:
"By leveraging appropriate software tools, big data is informing the movement toward value-based healthcare and is opening the door to remarkable advancements, even while reducing costs. " (4)
"Value-based healthcare is a healthcare delivery model in which providers, including hospitals and physicians, are paid based on patient health outcomes. Under value-based care agreements, providers are rewarded for helping patients improve their health, reduce the effects and incidence of chronic disease, and live healthier lives in an evidence-based way." (5)
(See below or https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/blog/shift-from-volume-based-care-to-value-based-care/ for an excellent infographic explaining this promising shift in healthcare)
In food and agriculture we are seeing risk sharing and outcomes based pricing contracts as well:
"...executives are touting their new pricing model, outcome-based pricing, as the potential pricing paradigm of the future. The model involves Bayer setting an expected yield outcome for a product or seed, based on a farm's data and history stored on the company's digital ag platform, FieldView, as well as the company's own research on their products. If a farmer's final yield falls below that expected value, the company will rebate a certain portion of the original price of the product. If the yield instead surpasses the initial set value, the farmer shares a pre-agreed portion of that additional income with the company." (6)
Precision Medicine and Precision Agriculture
Instead of one size fits all best practices for seed, pest management, tillage, and nutrient management recommendations driven by research from university and industry trials, growers can get individually customized prescriptions, not just at the farm or field level, but within field and moving closer and closer to the row foot level for some decisions. The combination of advanced genomics with big data generated from precision agricultural applications (remote sensing, IoT, automated steering, GPS/GIS) makes one size fits all obsolete.
As I quoted previously:
"That's also why the market has driven companies to treat hybrid selection like a 'big data' problem and they are developing multivariate recommender systems as tools to assist in this (like ACRES and FieldScripts). The market's response to each individual producer's unique circumstances of time and place also ensures continued diversity of crop genetics planted. There are numerous margins that growers look at when optimizing their seed choices and it will require a number of firms and seed choices to meet these needs as the industry's focus moves from the farm and field level to the data gathered by the row foot with each pass over the field." (1)
Similarly, in healthcare, the golden age of medicine driven by the 'omics' revolution and big data will allow us to move away from one size fits all generalizations of research and medicine allowing us to "tailor medical treatment to the specific characteristics of each patient involving the ability to classify individuals into subpopulations that are uniquely susceptible to a specific treatment, sparing expense and side effects and is derived from doubts on the results of subgroup analyses and on non responders in clinical trials" (7)
"Health systems will have to go rapidly from a one-size-fits-all model of treatment to a more customized model, which still uses mass-manufactured but where treatments are selected for patients based on specific biomarkers," Joshi said. "But we can now see the next advance in personalized medicine potentially going even further, something much more personalized, like a tailor-made suit...."Big data and advances in our understanding of genomics are providing us with the footholds into establishing and understanding, for the first time ever, the causal genetic factors that help us manage that golden triangle of treatment: the right target, the right chemistry, and the right patient." (2)
Venture Capital and Digital Platforms and Solutions
Monsanto's (now Bayer Crop Science) acquisition of The Climate Corporation occurred about the same time I was penning my first post on this convergence, and was the first major move in industry that solidified these potential synergies in my mind at least. This convergence has drawn the interest and has been fueled by a number of startups and venture capital firms. Farmer's Business Network (FBN) seems to be positioning itself as a disruptor, like the Amazon of agribusiness providing a platform that includes everything from purchasing inputs, crop analytics, finance and marketing, and more direct access to genetics. In the livestock space, companies like AAD (Advanced Animal Diagnostics) and Connecterra are building tools and services analogous to a Fitbit for cows. Body Surface Translations (BST) is a company whose image processing technology has targeted both problems in animal and human health. Tim Hammerich (the Future of Agriculture) and Sarah Nolet (AgTech So What?, AgThentic, Tenacious Ventures) have weekly discussions with innovators pioneering new solutions in this space covering a range of topics including automated irrigations systems, blockchain, regenerative agriculture, carbon sequestration and a range of companies from startups to larger players including Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola. Where Food Comes From is leveraging QR codes and mobile technology paired with their source verification processes to connect consumers to information about the people and processes behind the food they consume. IN10T is a digitally powered data driven company helping bridge the gaps between innovations and real world application of these technologies. Venture capital firm Foresite Capital even leverages data science to drive their investment strategy in therapeutics, diagnostics, and devices. This includes digital health apps like mindstrong which is leveraging AI for better diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of behavioral health conditions and everlywell focused on actionable healthcare diagnostics and health engagement. Evidation is a company that leverages data from digital devices and sensors capturing, quantifying, and analyzing behavior, or mapping the 'behaviorome' in the context of human health (8). This is just a tiny survey of companies and products that I have encountered in just the last few years.
Addressing Society's Bigger Problems
This convergence is allowing us to address problems in healthcare like quality, cost, access and health equity. When it comes to the food we eat, AI, technology, and genomics is providing us the tools to combat issues like climate change, water quality, nutrition, safety, equity, and access.
It's obvious when you look at the big picture, this convergence is leading to progress that is both complimentary and synergistic across a range of industries related to food and healthcare. Better food and a healthier environment and planet led to better health outcomes. Healthcare payers and providers are realizing the importance of these issues in healthcare. Each is separately addressing key social determinants of health in ways that were not possible before:
"During the past several decades, it has become increasingly apparent that a person’s “health” is influenced by many more factors than health care alone. These other determinants are defined by the conditions and environment in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, reaching beyond just what the delivery of acute care services can influence. These “social determinants of health” result in billions of dollars of additional costs annually. By working to mitigate the negative impacts of these factors, significant benefits can be achieved that improve both access and outcomes for individuals and lower overall costs." (9)
As I stated several years ago:
"as big data drives more diversity into every seed planted in every acre across every field, we may possibly begin to mitigate some of the risks and concerns traditionally associated with monoculture. So it is true, when you look across row after row and see only corn, you might technically call it 'monoculture' but it's not your grandparent's monoculture."
As a result of the convergence of AI and life sciences, it's not your grandparent's healthcare either.
References and Related Readings:
(1) Monoculture vs. the Convergence of Big Data and Genomics. Matt Bogard. October 13, 2017. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/monoculture-vs-convergence-big-data-genomics-matt-bogard/ (previously published as: Big Data + Genomics != Your Grandparent's Monoculture. Economic Sense. December 22, 2014. http://ageconomist.blogspot.com/2014/12/big-data-genomics-your-grandparents.html
(2) Big Data Gets Personal as Healthcare and Life Sciences Converge. By Bob Evans, Senior Vice President, Oracle. https://www.oracle.com/industries/oracle-voice/big-data-gets-personal.html
(3) Next Chapter For Biotech? Many Say 'Convergence' With Data Science. WBUR. NPR. Bioboom June 8, 2018. https://wbur.fm/2MaaMkA
(4) Healthcare Big Data and the Promise of Value-Based Car. NEJM Catalyst. Brief Article. Jan 1, 2018
(5) What Is Value-Based Healthcare?. NEJM Catalyst. Brief Article. Jan 1, 2017
(7) Capurso L. Evidence-based medicine vs medicina personalizzata [Evidence-based medicine vs personalized medicine.]. Recenti Prog Med. 2018 Jan;109(1):10-14. Italian. doi: 10.1701/2848.28748. PMID: 29451516.
(8) Why Foresite Capital is Betting Big on the Convergence of AI and Biotech. August 23, 2018. https://soundcloud.com/levine-media-group/why-foresite-capital-is-betting-big-on-the-convergence-of-ai-and-biotech Check out their current portfolio of investments: https://www.foresitecapital.com/portfolio/
(9) Beyond the Boundaries of Health Care: Addressing Social Issues https://www.ahip.org/beyond-the-boundaries-of-health-care-addressing-social-issues/
Related:
What does the farmer say...about seed choices? (Channeling Hayek) http://ageconomist.blogspot.com/2013/12/what-does-farmer-say-about-seed-choices.html
Big Data: Causality and Local Expertise Are Key in Agronomic Applications. http://econometricsense.blogspot.com/2014/05/big-data-think-global-act-local-when-it.html
Modern Sustainable Agriculture Annotated Bibliography. http://ageconomist.blogspot.com/2011/02/modern-sustainable-agriculture.html
