But the patents are broad enough for the company's chairman, an irascible Aussie doctor-turned-entrepreneur named Mervyn Jacobson (who is cofounder with Simons in what was earlier known as GeneType).

FORBES: Junkyard Dogs

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.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories