Last week's publication of the three billion letter sequence of the human DNA code, the Genome project, will have provided a further fillip to early-stage investing in biotechnology. It is a filip, however, that investment figures from both the US and Europe demonstrate is barely required.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' quarterly survey on venture capital investment in the US saw biotechnology temper an awkward fourth quarter, which had seen a moderate downturn in investment. US venture capitalists looked to the gold in medical devices and biopharmaceuticals to counter the drop in information technology investment, the flatline of semiconductor investment and the bombing of the dot-com sector.