California-based Amyris has made headlines for producing renewable synthetic fuel, but few know about the company's health-care vision: saving the lives of malaria patients. A drug called artemisinin kills the malarial parasite but is often in short supply because it has to be obtained from a rare plant. In 2010, Amyris and its partners completed development of a microbially produced version of artemisinin that can be made in virtually unlimited amounts; patients could begin receiving the drug in 2012.