DISCOVER Magazine Names Jay Keasling Its First Annual Scientist of the Year.

NEW YORK -- For his breakthroughs in the field of synthetic biology, including treatments for malaria, AIDS, and cancer as well as discoveries of new fuel resources, DISCOVER is awarding University of California at Berkeley's Jay Keasling with its prestigious Scientist of the Year award on November 15th in New York City.

Bob Guccione, Jr., CEO of DISCOVER media, says, "Dr. Keasling is a visionary whose ingenuity merits special recognition. DISCOVER believes what separates Dr. Keasling from other scientists, who also have done groundbreaking work, is his spirit and his determination to help those who cannot help themselves. He is a true humanitarian."

Synthetic biology is the process by which scientists manipulate genes and cells in the laboratory to reprogram them from the DNA up. Keasling understands the power of synthetic biology, and with a $43 million grant from the Bill Gates Foundation as well as the combined efforts of Amyris Biotechnologies, the Institute for OneWorld Health, and UC Berkeley's California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research, Keasling and his associates are creating a cure for malaria, a disease that kills 3 million people every year.

The drug artemisinin, the most effective treatment in preventing malaria, is currently made by extracts from the wormwood plant and chemically produced in a lab, a slow and very expensive process. Keasling has found a way to create artemisinin by combining genes from yeast, bacteria, and the wormwood plant that makes it possible to mass-produce the drug quickly and for one-tenth of today's price. He and his team of scientists are working to have artemisinin ready for mass distribution in late 2009 or early 2010.

Keasling has also recently made headlines for his work with AIDS treatment research. He has plans to produce Prostratin, an anti-AIDS drug, which comes from the native mamala tree in Samoa. In August 2004, Keasling traveled to Samoa with ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox to sign an agreement that gives a share of any profits from the production of Prostratin directly to the Samoans, since they first discovered and used the drug.

While Keasling's focus has been on artemisinin, he has already significantly impacted the biotechnology world with his groundbreaking research. He engineered bacteria to clean up toxic waste, such as heavy metal contamination. He has also worked on a bug that feeds on nerve agents and organophosphate pesticides.

Using biotechnology, Keasling's team also has plans to make and produce the anticancer drug Taxol, which is a product of the Pacific yew tree.

Keasling's work in synthetic biology also promises to revolutionize fuel research, another imperative world need due to the growing energy crisis. Keasling is already starting biofuel projects in his labs that will be able to create fuel out of sugar.

Through his significant synthetic biology advancements, Keasling is changing the world, making it a better place with every new discovery he makes. For his achievements, DISCOVER magazine names Jay Keasling Scientist of the Year for 2006.