Jay Keasling: 'We can use synthetic biology to make jet fuel'

guardian.co.uk
by Ian Sample The Observer, Sunday 27 February 2011

Keasling has already created anti-malarial drugs from yeast. Now he is working on a replacement for jet fuel and diesel

In 1974, Waclaw Szybalski, a cancer specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described a radical vision of the future. He foresaw a world where scientists had mastered biology to the point of creating life from scratch. His prediction was not far off the mark. Today, "synthetic biology" – the phrase was coined by Szybalski – is one of the most exciting avenues of modern science. Research on artificial life is under way; synthetic viruses a reality. But the swift progress of the field has raised hopes and fears in equal measure. While some argue that the work points the way to green energy and greater food production, others fear synthetic bugs might escape from the lab and spark a catastrophe.

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