Genset

Genset may refer to:

• » Diesel generator, a combination of diesel engine and electric generator
• » Engine-generator, a machine used to generate electricity
• » Genset locomotive, a railway locomotive using multiple engine-generators per vehicle for traction power.
• » Genset Corporation, a French biotechnology company

Diesel generator :

A diesel generator is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine-generator. A diesel compression-ignition engine often is designed to run on fuel oil, but some types are adapted for other liquid fuels or natural gas.

Diesel generating sets are used in places without connection to a power grid, or as emergency power-supply if the grid fails, as well as for more complex applications such as peak-lopping, grid support and export to the power grid.

Engine-generator :

An engine-generator is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine (prime mover) mounted together to form a single piece of equipment. This combination is also called an engine-generator set or a gen-set. In many contexts, the engine is taken for granted and the combined unit is simply called a generator.

Genset Corporation :

Genset, a biotechnology company, was established in 1989 in Paris, France with Pascal Brandys as its first president.

Genset was listed on the NASDAQ and the Paris Bourse (now NYSE Euronext) in 1996. Genset rapidly became the European flagship company in the field of genomics and became the second largest biotechnology company in Europe in 1999. At that time, the company reported identifiable assets of EUR 80.9 million and had subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, Singapore, and Australia. Genset was a pioneer in private human genome research. In 1994, Genset started the first large scale program to analyze the regulatory sequences of the human genome and in 1997 also initiated the construction of a map of single nucleotide polymorphisms as a tool to accelerate the discovery of genes associated with diseases. The company also created the business model of pharmacogenomics and started the first pharmacogenomics research program in the world in collaboration with Abbott Laboratories in 1997.

After 2000 Genset changed its strategy to focus on drug development, leading to the departure of its president and other founders. The strategy shift proved unsuccessful and Genset was acquired by Serono of Switzerland in 2002, now part of Merck Serono.