Mr Vann uses two sequences to transform what could be another routine tale of small-town life, hurling the book into the outer darkness of the heart.

ECONOMIST: The many miseries that shape a marriage

Judging from the winners' models, reliable extrapolations could be made from one protein to another so long as the two shared at least 30% of their amino-acid sequences.

ECONOMIST: Structural genomics

But despite their competitive streaks, there is one thing that the two men agree on: The gold rush to patent individual gene sequences will probably yield very little in the way of profits.

FORBES: Magazine Article