This article is primarily about Genetics Institute prior to its 1996 acquisition by Wyeth. For the current company, see Wyeth.Genetics Institute, Inc. was a biotechnology research and development company founded by Thomas Maniatis and Mark Ptashne, two Harvard molecular biologists, in 1980 in Massachusetts. Originally operating out of Ptashne's house in Boston, the company found more spacious quarters first in Boston and then Cambridge before expanding further.