I am not in competition with anyone but myself. My goal is to improve myself continuously.

We're creating this alliance, GAVI, that has helped buy the vaccines that were in the rich world but not getting to the poor kids, getting a very cheap price and figuring out the cold chain, getting the delivery right, and then funding research for new vaccines. A lot of them are coming along. We've got a meningitis vaccine out, got that through large parts of Africa. That has been a huge success.

In my 20s, I worked very, very hard. I have a much more balanced life now.

Solutions to all biological problems are greatly advanced by the sequencing work and the new tools that are created.

The world at large is less inequitable today than at any time in history. Number of people in abject poverty, as a percentage, is at all-time low.

You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that.

Learning from mistakes and constantly improving products is a key in all successful companies.