News Release

UC San Diego Bioengineering Startup Genomatica Tops New Biofuels Ranking

Renewable chemicals developer Genomatica recently took the #1 spot in the 2011-12 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials rankings by BiofuelsDigest.

San Diego, CA, July 29, 2011 -- Renewable chemicals developer Genomatica recently took the #1 spot in the 2011-12 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals and Materials rankings by BiofuelsDigest. The rankings recognize innovation and achievement in renewable chemicals and materials development. (Read theGenomatica press release on this ranking.)

Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2000 at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, under the guidance of professor Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Bioengineering.

Schilling launched ­Genomatica along with Palsson in 2000. Their aim was to enable the chemical industry, through Genomatica’s novel bio-manufacturing processes, to transform its feedstock base and take the “petro” out of the “petro-chemicals” business.Currently, professor Palsson serves at the chairman of the Genomatica scientific advisory board.

* Genomatica is a 2011 winner of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (read Genomatica press release), was recently named one of ‘10 Big Green Ideas’ by Newsweek and has been featured on Forbes.com. 

* Find links to Genomatica-related stories on this April 5 post on the Jacobs School of Engineering blog. 

* TheUC San Diego alumni magazine ran an item on Genomatica in Sept. 2009.

Media Contacts

Daniel Kane
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-534-3262
dbkane@ucsd.edu