Cheetahs are a unique breed of cat. Approximately 99 percent of their genes are identical, a biologically significant fact given that in most mammalian species only 80 percent of the genes in related individuals are identical. This lack of variation compromises the big cat’s ability to adjust to sudden environmental changes. Thus, cheetahs are highly susceptible to certain viruses and reproductive health problems. Today, only 10,000 wild cheetahs exist globally.

The middle of African bush country might seem like an unlikely place for a high-tech DNA laboratory, but with 20 percent of the world’s free-ranging cheetah population living in Namibia, it's the perfect place to develop the tools needed to save this endangered population. In 2009, we invested in the founding of the Applied Biosystems Genetic Conservation Laboratory, located at the headquarters of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. Here, four scientists and 50 international course participants have been trained on advanced genomic analysis technology and have developed a noninvasive genetic monitoring program, using Life Technologies genetic analysis systems and reagents as tools in their work to accurately characterize the population of cheetahs in Namibia and other home-range countries. Scientists are not only tracking the cats but are working to answer questions such as how cheetah genes transfer from one population to another, in order to identify geographical patterns of genetic variation and to study the animals’ behavior in specific habitats. This partnership is designed to further our knowledge of biodiversity on a larger scale, with a goal of giving us the knowledge we need to reverse negative trends in species loss.

“What makes Life Technologies and our industry particularly exciting is that we can meaningfully contribute to improving the human condition by the work that we do over an extended period of time. I see the [Haiti earthquake] relief fund as an opportunity to act upon that same aspiration today …”
--Nicholas Barthelemy, President of the Cell Systems Division, Life Technologies

In addition to a significant financial contribution from its Foundation, Life Technologies is deploying sequencing technologies for the DNA PROKIDS project in Haiti.
Using cutting-edge sequencing technologies, the DNA PROKIDS program allows Haitian officials to take samples of genetic data from 6,000 adults who have reported missing children, from immediate relatives with a blood relationship, and from children with no family or doubtful relatives. The aim is to help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents after the devastating earthquake.

The process will fulfill all warranties and quality requirements in sample chain of custody and data analysis and delivery, ensuring that families who can be reunited will be reunited.

The market for real-time PCR instruments and reagents is a relatively mature one where Life Technologies already holds a substantial position. In 2009, the challenge was growing this market by redefining how we think about our customers, our business and how we work together.
Using the UCI process and starting with observing customers as users, the product team learned that customers need more than innovative products; they need a “great colleague in the lab” to guide them in the use of technology. As they learn and use the technology, their needs evolve and change.
The need for connection is greatest for researchers who are just learning the technology and looking for guidance. It drops off with intermediate users, who are fairly confident with the technology and need only residual support, and rises again for experts who want to share their knowledge with others and collaborate. These findings did not always correlate to the way Life Technologies interacted with researchers. Our practices were not evolving with our customers needs.

The project team created a model of contact and connection that would best fit the user’s level of expertise. This was achieved by using a web-based tool for researchers so they could easily find necessary information to plan and troubleshoot experiments based on their experience level.

While these concepts are still being tested and refined, feedback from users during prototyping has been very positive.

One challenge for the pharmaceutical community globally is to develop drugs that are effective for individual populations. Life Technologies aides in this endeavor; a breakthrough in South Africa has revealed new and surprising diversity within the human genome, and demonstrated how interconnected individuals are to one another.

A Southern African Bushmen collaborative project involved the whole-genome sequencing of two named individuals: !Gubi, a Kalahari Bushman, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This project had some surprising results.

• It established a new benchmark in the level of diversity within the human genome. The Kalahari Bushmen live near what is thought to be the epicenter of ancestors to the modern human. Due to this close physical proximity, we observe a high level of diversity within their genome. For example, we saw more diversity between two bushman that live about 1000 miles apart than is seen between a Caucasian and an Asian.
• Archbishop Tutu was sequenced on the premise that his ancestors belonged to two of the major groups within the Bantu population. Instead, the study uncovered that somewhere in Archbishop Tutu's lineage, on his maternal side, there was an African Bushwoman, proving that Archbishop Tutu is distantly and directly related to the Kalahari Bushmen.

By characterizing the genetic variations that are present in Southern African genomes, better drugs (such as anti-viral drugs for HIV) can be generated that are useful for specific populations. This project represents an important first step toward this goal.

At Life Technologies, we make the development of new Intellectual Property (IP) a central theme across our business. Each year we spend more than $300 million on research and development—more than any other life sciences tools company. This investment has resulted in a library of more than 3900 patents.

We track new inventions closely; anyone can submit an invention disclosure at any time, and all submissions are reviewed. In fact, we recently implemented an online tool to enable an invention disclosure to be submitted and modified across the company in a cumulative fashion. We believe that tracking the number of invention disclosures is a reasonable proxy for measuring innovation coming out of our R&D teams; we review our progress monthly.

We also provide performance incentives for innovation, and our R&D teams have specific goals and objectives designed around this metric. In 2009 we reworked our IP incentive effort so that inventors will benefit when their creation delivers real value for the company. Each year we invite key innovators to a dedicated Board of Directors dinner.

To kick off in 2009, more than 250 members of the Life Technologies senior management team attended the two-day Global Leadership Meeting (GLM) in San Diego. The meeting’s theme, “The Power of One,” reflected not only the power of the combined Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems organization to shape scientific discovery and improve the quality of life, but also the power that each employee has to move the company toward its goals. This meeting was a chance for us to share our purpose, our values and our plans for the upcoming year.

Each participant made a commitment to cascade the information and insights from the GLM to his or her team. Each and every Life Technologies employee should understand our overall purpose, goals and objectives and more importantly, how his or her work will contribute to our shared success.

Leveraging the power and effectiveness of social networking can be key in driving better connection, communication and collaboration at Life Technologies.

Initially, the IT team was charged with building a new intranet solution that would help Life Technologies employees—give them relevant information and enable them to share and network through the latest in web 2.0 technology. We interviewed software firms, brainstormed ideas on how the intranet should be constructed, set up committees, and spent months planning a solution… but were we just creating another solution like the previous one? That’s when User Center Innovation helped us change the paradigm.

Instead of designing what we thought our employees wanted, we asked them. Three key “wants” emerged: employees want to connect, communicate and collaborate. The resulting discovery process led us to determine that a social networking site—one that takes the best of social media and tailors it to Life Technologies culture—would best meet all of the needs. As a result of in the work completed in 2009, a new internal social networking platform will launch later in 2010.

When Life Technologies first Global Quality Leadership Team Meeting was held in San Diego, California, last year, the group was pleasantly surprised to find out that the meeting’s typical get-to-know-you team-building exercise would also be a public service project. Forty-two individuals from around the world visited the San Diego Food Bank and broke into two competitive teams. Working together to understand each other's strengths, communicating, encouraging each other and using their quality experiences to visually inspect and sort food produced a successful outcome—for our employees and for the food bank. In less than 2 hours, the two teams sorted 9,000 pounds of food, enough to feed 100 people for 18 days. The success of this service project inspired other teams to follow suit.

When you live alongside the rich marine environment of the Pacific Ocean, it’s only natural to look to the ocean as your teacher. That’s what the Ocean Discovery Institute has done, and Life Technologies supports this nonprofit organization’s programs with funding, in-kind donations of scientific equipment and supplies and the participation of our scientists. The Ocean Discovery Institute runs tuition-free educational programs for 5,000 urban, disadvantaged and minority youths each year, using science, the ocean and nature to inspire and empower them. The mix of classroom-based experimental science, intensive after-school and summer programs, and community-based habitat restoration provides more than 48,000 hours of instruction annually.

Each year, the top 20 to 28 students in the Ocean Discovery Institute are invited to join its Ocean Leaders program. This intensive course includes 11 weeks training and preparation in San Diego, five weeks working on actual research projects at the Vermillion Sea Field Station on Bahía de Los Angeles in Baja California, and three weeks debriefing and presenting their results. The field station is located among 17 nature-rich islands in the Sea of Cortez along Baja’s eastern coast, about 450 miles south of San Diego.

In 2009, Life Technologies sent Associate Scientist Tatiana Cirico from the Genomic Technologies group in Molecular Biology Systems to the Bahía site to introduce the students to DNA, cloning and protein expression. “I wanted to link the talk to the subjects they were studying,” Cirico says, “so I described the fluorescent proteins we use as markers in cell biology and related them to the bioluminescence exhibited by many marine organisms.” For a hands-on experiment, Cirico conducted an experiment in which the students extracted DNA from strawberries using simple household chemicals. “That was exciting for them,” she says. “The solution was even pink!”

In 2009, the company’s new Shanghai Demonstration Laboratory earned LEED Gold Certification. This facility has demonstrated a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources.

Highlights from the LEED checklist include:

• 77 percent landfill diversion of onsite generated construction waste
• 19 percent reduction in potable water use
• 17 percent reduction in connected lighting power with installation of daylight-responsive control
• Use of Energy Star–rated equipment equal to 99 percent by rated power
• 12 percent of the total building material content manufactured using recycled materials
• Increased breathing zone outdoor air ventilation rates by more than 30 percent above requirements

In 2003, the Pleasanton, California site became the first Life Technologies site to be awarded a LEED building certification, earning its Silver certification in the early days of the formal LEED program. Our headquarters in Carlsbad, California and buildings under construction in Scotland and China are targeted for certification in 2010.