Good news for Amyris. Agbiotech company Chromatin has created sorghum plants containing elevated levels of the energy-rich compound farnesene. This milestone achievement was supported in part by the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, “Plants Engineered To Replace Oil” (PETRO).

Like sugarcane, sorghum has traditionally been used as a source of sugars that can be subsequently converted to biofuels by microbes. Sorghum can grow on over 80% of the world’s land, including marginal land with limited access to water. Chromatin said further development is still required before the new sorghum product can be launched.