For start-up companies that find they have few financing options available, funding vehicles such as the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) can prove to be a lifeline. The programme is managed by the US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology. “For us, the programme really worked. I honestly doubt if [the company] would be in existence if it hadn't been for the ATP,” says Christopher Becker, president and co-founder of GeneTrace Systems in Alameda, California.

Becker and his colleague Joseph Monforte founded GeneTrace Systems in 1994 to develop DNA sequencing systems that combine DNA probing, sequencing and sizing reactions with laser-based time-of-flight microscopy. The aim is to develop analysis methods that are faster and cheaper than gel-based approaches. Since the company received ATP funds of about $2 million, GeneTrace has entered into equity and licensing agreements with Incyte Pharmaceuticals and Monsanto, and now has 60 staff.

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