As you may have heard… it’s getting hotter.
So hot, in fact, that extreme heat is the top weather-related killer in the United States. Not hurricanes, not wildfires. Extreme heat kills more people in the U.S. every year than natural disasters combined.
So, is all hope lost? Are we giving up? Of course not.
Recent innovations in programmable organisms and biomaterials offer real promise for addressing the climate crisis. These technologies have the potential to create ripple effects across production lines and supply chains, fundamentally reshaping entire industries.
What’s Happening: A New Toolkit for Climate Adaptation
FTSG highlighted the concept of programmable biology in our 2026 Convergence Outlook. Programmable biology represents a new reality where enzymes, organisms, and living materials can be treated like software, solving problems on a microscopic level – literally.
Scientists are already making significant advances in this new field and are working to apply them to the climate crisis. Researchers at the Sweden Royal Institute of Technology, for example, developed a transparent wood-based material by removing lignin and adding other polymers. The result is a material that transmits light like glass, blocking heat more effectively and requiring less energy to produce.
At the same time, scientists at The Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems are working on plants that can respond to climate stressors in real time. Some can even communicate potential threats, such as nutrient deficiencies. This opens the door to crops that are more resilient to climate shocks and environmental pressures.
Why It Matters: Implications for Every Industry
Such breakthroughs are easy to associate with industries like agriculture or construction. But their implications extend far beyond these sectors, as they may fundamentally change how businesses respond to climate pressure.
As biology becomes programmable and materials become adaptive, the systems that underpin nearly every industry – physical assets, supply chains, risk models – begin to change as well. In a world shaped by rising temperatures and environmental volatility, these technologies offer new ways to operate under stress rather than simply absorb it.
Manufacturing processes, consumer goods, logistics systems, and energy infrastructure all depend on physical inputs. As those inputs become more efficient and responsive, cost structures shift and new forms of competitive advantage emerge. The materials businesses rely on will begin to behave less like commodities and more like technology.
Biological systems, meanwhile, are becoming sources of real-time data and decision-making. We’re looking at a future where crops can monitor their own health and preemptively adjust to environmental changes, yes, but the broader implication is not limited to agriculture.
As living systems become capable of sensing and responding, they become part of the information layer of the economy. Supply chains could become more predictable and responsive. Risks could be identified earlier. Decision-making could shift from reactive to anticipatory, informed by systems that are constantly generating and acting on data.
Finally, climate adaptation itself is reshaping how value and risk are distributed. As global temperatures rise, urban residents are increasingly exposed to extreme heat due to urban heat islands and concentrated populations. Socially vulnerable populations are already disproportionately affected by these changes, and shifting weather patterns further threaten crop yields and global food security.
In response, governments and certain industries – such as insurance – are already beginning to take action. Tools such as Google Research’s aerial imagery-based urban heat mapping are helping cities identify risk at a granular level while new innovations offer ways to mitigate those risks.
Ultimately, climate adaptation is not just about resilience but about a distribution of value. Certain geographies, assets, and systems will become more resilient and more valuable, while others become more exposed. Insurance models will evolve. Infrastructure investment will shift. Businesses across industries will need to reassess where risk sits in their operations and where opportunity is emerging.
What You Can Do Now: Preparing for a Programmable Future
So, what’s the takeaway here? It’s simple: biology and materials are becoming programmable, and that shift will start showing up in places you might not expect.
The first step is to look at where your business relies on physical inputs, environmental stability, or long supply chains, and ask a simple question: what happens if those inputs become adaptive, responsive, or entirely reengineered?
From there, focus on exposure. As climate pressures intensify, some assets, geographies, and systems will become more resilient and more valuable, while others will become more exposed and harder to operate. Emerging technologies such as programmable biology will play a role in determining which is which.
Understanding where you sit on that spectrum is critical. Companies that move early can mitigate risk and position themselves to benefit from where value is moving.
