During a 5 minute live-streamed pitch, CEO Carmen Lamacchia told the story of New Gluten World and of her tenacious research of the Gluten Friendly™ technology. New Gluten World was among a handful of Apulia startups that were chosen to talk about innovation in Italy’s bread basket during WIRED DIGITAL DAY. In fact, the intuition behind the discovery, came to Professor Lamacchia while studying a typical Apulian flour called grano arso. She was the first in her field to observe the unusual behavior of gluten proteins inside these burnt wheat kernels. In 2009, she proved that the proteins did not aggregate inside the seed, even under extreme temperatures - the opposite of what happens to proteins in dough when it is baked into bread. It took Lamacchia several years, but she continued to search and re-search until she found the key that led her to the Gluten Friendly™ discovery. The inventor left the audience with one important piece of advice: don’t give up on your idea for an invention in the early stages. If you keep searching, you’ll find it.