1.   Genome Therapeutics Inc. of Waltham, Mass., has built a subscription business based on bacterial genomes.

2.   The Helicobacter genome is the fifth bacterial genome to be published and those of a dozen others, mostly pathogens, are in various stages of completion.

3.   The institute, which is allied with Human Genome Sciences, announced the first three bacterial genome sequences last year.

4.   The rival was a company formed by the instrument maker Perkin-Elmer and J. Craig Venter, the pioneer of sequencing of bacterial genomes.

5.   The syphilis genome is the seventh bacterial genome completed by the institute.

6.   Venter has pioneered the sequencing of bacterial genomes, a flourishing new field that is likely to have a broad impact on medicine.

7.   With modern equipment, a bacterial genome can now be sequenced in a matter of weeks or even days.