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Here's a profile that could have easily been filed in our Money section, but since it mentions curing malaria and global warming, it's right at home here:

Amyris Biotechnologies has almost finished developing a cheap cure for malaria that could save the lives of millions of the poor. Now, using the same technology, this start-up in Emeryville, Calif., wants to create new biofuels that may help save the planet.

Mr. Doerr, of Silicon Valley venture capital firm, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said he thought that green technologies "could be the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century." He called Amyris "the best team to do this kind of work."

Amyris's technology derives from the research of Jay D. Keasling, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and the director of the synthetic biology department of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Mr. Keasling's metabolic engineering is farther-reaching and, potentially, much more productive. His lab has invented techniques that rewrite the metabolisms of microorganisms. By modifying the structure of a microorganism's proteins and adding genes from other organisms, Mr. Keasling has designed microbial factories that can produce a tremendous variety of drugs, biofuels and other chemicals.

This article highlights how the Green Revolution will certainly provide the catalyst for the next few decades of economic growth, with this young company one of thousands trying to devise ingenious ways to combat global poverty and global warming.

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