The genuinely transformative developments are happening at two ends. At one end, precision fermentation — using engineered microbes to produce proteins identical to milk, egg, and meat proteins without animals — is moving from lab to commercial scale on a cost curve that begins to resemble solar's. At the other end, controlled-environment agriculture is producing leafy greens at competitive prices in cities, with tomatoes and berries following. Both depend on cheap energy. Both threaten existing agricultural land ownership and the labor structures built around it.
The ownership question here is acute. Precision fermentation patents are held by a small number of well-capitalized firms. The molecules they produce are nature's molecules, made by techniques developed largely with public funding. Whether basic protein becomes a commons or a private licensed input is being decided now.