For scientist Jack Newman, creating a new life-form has become as simple as this: He types out a DNA sequence on his laptop, and clicks "send." And nearby in the laboratory, robotic arms start to mix together some compounds to produce the desired cells.
Newman's biotech company is creating new organisms, mostly forms of genetically modified yeast, at the dizzying rate of more than 1,500 a day. Some convert sugar into medicines. Others create moisturizers that can be used in cosmetics. And still others make biofuel, a renewable energy source usually made from corn.
"You can now build a cell the same way you might build an app for your iPhone," said Newman, chief science officer of Amyris.