Synthetic biology can help extend anti-malaria drug eff...(ng and beating the current cost of plant...)

Date:3/6/2009

ng and beating the current cost of plant-derived artemisinin," Keasling said. "The concept is to produce artemisinin cheaply and sell it to companies that will produce the right kinds of co-therapies and enable them to compete with companies that are trying to market artemisinin as a monotherapy."

Keasling said that the same synthetic biology techniques used to make the microbial-based artemisinin should be equally effective in the drive to produce a next generation of biofuels carbon-neutral transportation fuels derived from plant biomass.

"Artemisinin is hydrocarbon and we built a microbial platform to produce it. We can remove a few of the genes to take out artemisinin and put in a different hydrocarbon to make biofuels."

As Keasling is fond of saying, "With the tools of synthetic biology, we don't have to just accept what Nature has given us."

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Contact: Lynn Yarris lcyarris@lbl.gov 510-486-5375 DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Source:Eurekalert

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