Box 1. Answers to quiz

1. (a) Erythropoietin (TKT lost); (b) DNA chips (Affymetrix won commercially after resolving disputes with Hyseq and OGT, and is still fighting Incyte in court); (c) Taq polymerase. (Roche lost in Europe after previously having lost in the United States); (d) Embryonic stem cells (WARF filed to prevent Geron asserting rights to university-developed embryonic stem cells); (e) BRCA1 diagnostics (Institut Pasteur has opposed Myriad's European patent).

2. Published in 2001: Rice, in January by Myriad Genetics and Syngenta; Homo sapiens, in Feburary by Celera and the Human Genome Project (though hardly complete then); P. gingivalis, by TIG, this is the first oral disease-causing microbe; Y. pestis, in October by the Sanger Centre; L. monocytogenes, in October by Institut Pasteur. Not published in 2001: Rat, Celera, Royal College of Medicine, and Genome Therapeutics promised a draft in the next two years; anthrax, sequenced by TIGR but sequence will not be made publicly available for security reasons; A. thaliana, December 2000; banana, international sequencing project began in 2001; H. pylori, genome completed in 1997 by TIGR but the protein–protein interaction map published in 2001 by Institut Pasteur and Hybrigenics; zebrafish, sequencing project started in February at the Sanger Centre.

3. Company (Location): Algonomics (Zwijnaarde, Belgium); Arachnova (Cambridge, UK);Arevia (Berlin, Germany); Big Bear Bio (Alameda, CA); Biomit (Basel, Switzerland); Circassia (London, UK); Deltagen (Redwood City, CA); Diabetogen Biosciences (London, ON, Canada); Diatos (Paris, France); Febit (Mannheim, Germany); Incellico (Durham, NC); Juvantia Pharma (Turku, Finland); Koronis Pharmaceuticals (Redmond, WA); Prescient Neuropharma (Toronto, ON, Canada); Renovo (Manchester, UK); Science Factory (Köln, Germany); Switch Biotech (Martinsried, Germany ); Synaptica (Oxford, UK); The Genetics Company (Zurich, Switzerland); Xantos Biomedicine (Martinsried, Germany); Xenerex Biosciences (San Diego, CA); YAbA (Edinburgh, UK)

4. Technology Purpose (Nature Biotechnology 19, page numbers as shown)

 -Hemolysin DNA sequencer. Hemolysin forms a nanopore through which DNA molecules can enter and alter membrane current (636–639).

 Brewer's yeast Drug sniffer. Genetically engineered yeast strains have been developed as drug sensors (1042–1046).

 Ebola virus Gene-delivery vector: Ebola proteins aided lung transduction by a lentiviral vector in delivering genes to lung tissues (219–224).

 Hamster embryo kidney cells Prototype neural prosthesis. Expression of potassium channels allows HEK cells to "talk" to silicon chips (121–124).

 Ink-jet printers Gene profiler. An ink-jet printer has been used to spot nucleotides on a gene chip (342–347).

 Pigs Pollution reducer. Pigs expressing phytase genes can better digest phosphate nutrients, thereby reducing waste (741–745).

 Quartz crystals Viral particles listener. A quartz crystal microbalance monitors rupture events when viruses detach from antibodies on the surface (833–837).

 Tobacco Bomb disposal expert. Plants produced enzymes that degrade the explosive TNT (1168–1172).

5. (a) iii; (b) i; (c) iii; (d) ii

6. (a) Curagen forged a multibillion-dollar deal with Bayer to co-develop drugs to treat obesity; (b) Bristol-Myers Squibb paid Imclone a colossal $1.2 billion in cash and equity for Imclone's cancer drug; (c) Roche paid OSI Pharmaceuticals $95 million in upfront payments for its lead anti-cancer drug, OSI-774; (d) Isis received $75 million in equity and $25 million in cash from Eli Lilly for providing access to its cancer drug and antisense technology.

7. (a) Cur; (b) Meta; (c) Cell; (d) Syn.

8. Reproductive cloning is banned in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It is not yet banned in Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Turkey, or the United States.

9. Estimates made in 2001 varied widely: Around 30,000 according to the human genome papers in Nature and Science; 42,000 according to recent analysis in Cell ( Hogenesch , J.B. et al.  106, 413–415). The final number awaits firm biological evidence, such as gene activity to confirm each gene's existence.

10. (a) D; (b) M; (c) m; (d) T; (e) N.

11. Target–acquirer: Alza–Johnson & Johnson; Aurora–Vertex; Aviron– MedImmune; Axys Pharmaceuticals–Celera Genomics; Bradford Particle Design–Inhale Therapeutic Systems; Camitro–ArQule; Cantab Pharmaceuticals– Xenova ; Cartesian Technologies–Genomic Solutions; Cellmark Diagnostics–Orchid BioSciences; COR Therapeutics–Millennium Pharmaceuticals; Eos–Pharmacopoeia; Gemini Genomics–Sequenom; Packard Bioscience–PerkinElmer; Rosetta Inpharmatics–Merck & Co; Trega Biosciences–LION BioScience.

12. Bombs: Ayno Corridor; BioConexión Barça; BioPark; Bioregio (this was the German Federal government's startup funding program); Gensemble. Clusters: BioCom (San Diego, CA); BioMed City (Gröningen, The Netherlands); BioRegioN (Lower Saxony, Germany); Biotech City (Laval, PQ, Canada); BioValley (Basel/Alsace/Freiburg); Medicon Valley (Northwest Denmark and Southern Sweden).

13. Dragon Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver, BC, Canada); LION Bioscience (Heidelberg, Germany); Big Bear Bio (Alameda, CA); Centaur Pharmaceutical (Santa Clara, CA); Cobra Therapeutics (Keele, UK); Osprey Biotechnics (Sarasota, FL); Sphinx Pharmaceutical (Durham, NC); Lynx Therapeutics (Hayward, CA).

14. The mouflon is a rare breed of sheep, and this year was the first viable clone of an endangered animal. Pasqualino Loi and colleagues cloned a mouflon from genetic material derived from a dead ewe found at a wildlife rescue center in Sardinia, Italy (Nat. Biotechnol.962–964).

15. 3 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 1 + 7 + 454 = 477.

16. (a) Entelos PhysioLabs (Menlo Park, CA); (b) Chrysalis Biotechnology (Galveston, TX); (c) Sartorius AG (Göttingen, Germany); (d) Kos Pharmaceuticals (Miami, FL); (e) Ixion Biotechnology (Alachua, FL); (f) Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA)