Amyris unveils bio-diesel fuel deal, joins forces with Brazilian company

An Emeryville biotech company that gained fame creating a less-costly anti-malaria drug has turned to its next challenge: making clean fuel for the world's cars, trucks, jets and generators.

Today, Amyris said it has signed a deal with a large Brazilian ethanol maker to create renewable diesel using its synthetic biology technology.

The feedstock will be Brazil's plentiful sugarcane, already being used to make ethanol in that country. Santelisa Vale, the nation's second-largest ethanol and sugar producer, will devote 2 million tons of crushing capacity to the project.

A joint venture between Amyris and Crystalsev, majority-owned by Santelisa, will make the fuel. A pilot plant is expected to go into operation in early 2009 and commercial production could commence in 2010, according to Amyris.

The US National Cancer Institute Extends its Contract with GENEART - Order Volume USD 1.9M

GENEART, the global leader in gene
synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, today
announces the continuation of the collaboration with the US National
Cancer Institute, which is part of the NIH. The contract was awarded
and extended by SAIC Frederick, Inc. on behalf of the NCI. Within the
scope of the ongoing contract, GENEART has already produced more than
3,500 genes with an order volume of about USD 3.5M. The follow-up
order comprises a volume of USD 1.9M for the synthesis of another 200
highly complex genes. With the genes synthesized by GENEART, the NCI
complements the NIH "Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) Program". This
comprehensive collection of human and mouse genes represents a
significant resource for basic research as well as for clinical
research and development.

The 3,500 genes so far synthesized by GENEART include a large number
of highly complex sequences, which could not be isolated with
classical methods of biotechnology in the course of the MGC project
between 2002 and 2006. A major fraction of genes in this group showed
a high number of repetitive DNA sequence elements, or were toxic for
the production host E. coli. To efficiently synthesize this large
number of genes in a high-throughput manner, GENEART had to further
advance its existing technologies and establish new production
techniques.

Professor Dr. Ralf Wagner, CSO of the GENEART AG, adds: "The
advancements in technology have elevated our gene synthesis platform
to a new level, and further strengthen our leadership role in this
market. We therefore expect to profit far more than average from the
increasing demand for complex genes, gene clusters and entire genomes
in pharmaceutical research and in the synthetic biology field."

Christian Ehl, CFO of the GENEART AG, elaborates: "This order has
been the greatest challenge in our company history so far, and we
have mastered it with great success. Our performance demonstrates the
capability of our team, and it proves the power of the GENEART
Technology Platform. We are especially delighted about the extended
collaboration with NCI because it confirms our ability to perform.
Additionally, the NCI/NIH project provides us with a singular
reference in the field. This will certainly help us to acquire more
major projects in the global market."