Amyris Biotechnologies hopes to convert sugar directly to fuel by reprogramming microbes.

Jack Newman, PhD, Amyris Biotechnologies VP: “Why are we making ethanol if we’re trying to make a fuel? We should be making something that looks a lot more like gasoline. We should be making something that looks a lot more like diesel. And if you wanted to design, you name it, a jet fuel? We can make that too.”

Amyris Biotechnologies was born with a $43 million dollar grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to make a more affordable anti-malaria drug through synthetic biology.