Sam Eletr begins his oral history interview discussing other scientists and the origin of Applied Biosystems before starting to talk about his life. After getting his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, Eletr returned to France where he worked as a postdoc for two years. He decided to return to the United States after the postdoc concluded because he wanted more academic freedom. For two years, he worked in the laboratory of Manuel F. Morales in the School of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, and gained experience with computers there, which prompted his interest in working at Hewlett-Packard. When he first applied to Hewlett-Packard, he was rejected by the personnel department. Undeterred, Eletr wrote a letter to William R. Hewlett, who invited him to meet with Dean Morton, the head of the medical division, who offered Eletr a job. Given his past experience, Eletr received “wet stuff” for review from other departments. One day he received a proposal for a protein sequencer, his first introduction to the tool. But when he asked those higher up in the company about it, they thought it was “too wet” for Hewlett-Packard. The sequencer did not leave Eletr’s mind. Several venture capitalists reached out to him, and he finally decided to leave Hewlett-Packard to promote development of the protein sequencer. With contributions from five venture capitalists, he founded Applied Biosystems (initially Genetic Systems Company, or GeneCo).

In his interview, Eletr talks about the early stages of Applied Biosystems, including mentioning initial employees like André Marion and working with scientists like Leroy E. Hood. After serving as as CEO, chairman of the board, and head of research for three years, Eletr hired Michael W. Hunkapiller to replace him as head of research just before the company went public. Eletr mentions the rationale for locating the company in Hayward, California; its initial business plan of developing four instruments (protein sequencer, DNA synthesizer, peptide synthesizer, and DNA sequencer); and the process to acquire licenses for the valves used in the machines. He talks about first meeting Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner and establishing a decades-long working relationship with him. Although Eletr briefly mentions all four instruments, he discusses the DNA sequencer in greatest detail. He also discusses his experience interacting with board members. By 1987, Eletr found himself too tired to maintain the extensive travel required as CEO of Applied Biosystems, so he decided to resign. After a several-year hiatus, he returned to the company as a consultant and created Lynx Therapeutics as a spin-off company with Brenner, which Eletr discusses in the interview, including Lynx’s combination with Solexa to form Illumina Sequencing. Eletr also mentions his involvement in other companies after Lynx, including Population Genetics (also with Brenner) and Andrew Alliance. The interview concludes with reflections on the human genome and thoughts about various scientists and venture capitalists.