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I have seen firsthand that agricultural science has enormous potential to increase the yields of small farmers and lift them out of hunger and poverty.

We need to focus on green jobs: solar, wind, geothermal, biomass. There's so many opportunities. But other countries like China are getting ahead of the curve.

I see any production of any nature being good for the development of the whole industry.

We can bring together rich natural resources, innovative research and development, smart investors, and risk-taking farming and manufacturing entrepreneurs.

I am absolutely confident that St. Louis can attract major players in technology and make the companies that are here blossom.

Agriculture as we know it needs to disappear. We can design better and healthier proteins than we get from nature.

There is also a marked global trend towards sustainable agriculture, building on traditional methods which use fewer chemical inputs, carefully manage soil and water resources, and work hand-in-hand with nature.

I plan to see St. Louis as a global competitor. As an international trade hub, as an incubator of new companies, as a place of culture and the arts, as a magnet for immigrants, for entrepreneurs, for animal lovers, and for gays, as a city of parks and trails, and as the sort of place that figures in young people's dreams.

To affordably feed the next billion people, we must have higher-yielding crops with even greater nutritional value. America should be at the vanguard of the innovative advances that will make this happen.

The idea that science is just some luxury that you'll get around to if you can afford it is regressive to any future a country might dream for itself.