Applied Biosystems, Inc., started as GeneCo, was the name of a pioneer biotechnology company founded in 1981 in Foster City, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the 1980s and early 1990s it operated independently and manufactured biochemicals and automated genetic engineering and diagnostic research instruments, including the principal brand of DNA sequencing machine used by the Human Genome Project consortium centers. Applied Biosystems' close ties to the consortium project led to the idea for the founding of Celera Genomics in 1998 as one of several independent competitors to the consortium. In 1993 Applied Biosystems was delisted from the NASDAQ when it was acquired by the old company known then as Perkin-Elmer. As the PE Applied Biosystems Division under that parent in 1998, it became consolidated with other acquisitions as the primary PE Biosystems Division. In 1999 its parent company reorganized and changed its name to PE Corporation, and the PE Biosystems Group again became publicly traded, as a tracking stock of its parent, along with its sister tracking stock company, Celera Genomics. In 2000 the parent became Applera Corporation. The Applied Biosystems name also returned that year, in the name change of the tracking stock from PE Biosystems Group to Applera Corporation-Applied Biosystems Group, an S&P 500 company, which remains as a publicly traded operating group within Applera Corp., along with its sibling operating group, Applera Corporation-Celera Group. Applera derives its name from the combination of its two component groups' names, Applera In November 2008, a merger between Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen was finalized "creating a global leader in biotechnology reagents and systems". The new company is called Life Technologies. Wikipedia [ - ]

Applied Biosystems, Inc., started as GeneCo, was the name of a pioneer biotechnology company... [ + ]