Wells provides many other examples of evolutionary scientists who predicted that most of the noncoding DNA in the genome would be junk.

FORBES: The Myth ... of the Myth of Junk DNA

Jacobson says Applera should either buy a license or stop using noncoding DNA for, among other things, a diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis.

FORBES: Junkyard Dogs

Research into noncoding DNA has recently been gaining force.

FORBES: Magazine Article

This vast majority of genetic material known as functional noncoding DNA, mostly embedded within and around the genes, was thought to play an important but murky role in regulating how the coding genes go about their business.

FORBES: Arguing Over Junk: Scientists Attack Each Other as Media Flub 'DNA Story of the Year'

He cites a 1978 paper that showed a link between the gene behind sickle cell disease and a variation in a section of junk DNA. Jacobson dismisses as poppycock the notion that noncoding DNA was understood back then.

FORBES: Magazine Article

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