Mervyn Jacobson read about Simons' bumpy journey and was smitten with the idea of finding value in junk DNA. In 1989 they formed GeneType and applied for their first patent covering noncoding regions and HLA. In 2000 GeneType pulled off a reverse merger with a publicly traded Australian shell company that formerly mined for gold.
Executive, an erstwhile high flyer led by a controversial boss named Fred Carr, had amassed the nation's largest portfolio of junk bonds, many of which had lost much of their value.