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The article profiles Matthew Lewin, an emergency-care doctor with a specialty in widlerness medicine. In addition to operating as a medic in places such as Chile, Peru and Mongolia, he has released more than 40 papers on work that ranges from defensive behaviour of moth larvae and exotic parasites to how to open the throat of a person during improvised surgery. He has trained U.S. special-forces medics, national-park responders and medical students at the University of California in San Francisco, California, in methods to treat patients in the field.

Discusses a legal case about whether a plasmid discovered at and patented by the University of California at San Francisco contributed to the early success of Genentech, Inc. Evidence of the conflict in the pages of `Nature'; How the case shows the commercial pressures on the biotechnology industry.

Describes progress in the legal case in which the University of California, San Francisco, alleges that Genentech Inc. infringed on its patent for DNA for human growth hormone. Hormone leading to the development of the drug Protropin; Views of Genentech executives about the case; Details about key testimony; Problems with a paper published in `Nature' related to the case; Colleagues who have had to tesify against one another. INSET: Who's telling the truth about crucial plasmid?.