He sees cash flow from bioterrorism.

• Position: People - Profile of Eric Button, CEO of EcoGenomix Inc.

Eric Button swears his experience with bioterrorism wouldn't fill a Dixie cup. And as temporary chairman and CEO of EcoGenomix Inc., spun out of UNC Greensboro's biology department to develop a method of detecting germs and bacteria in drinking water, the job isn't his for long. "The more temporary," he says, "the better."

Button, 42, is a roving startup man. That comes with his job as president and managing director of BioEmerge Partners, a Clemmons-based venture-capital fund for biotech startups. EcoGenomix is the fund's seventh. For competitive reasons, he won't identify the others.

EcoGenomix is based on the work of three UNC Greensboro researchers, supported by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It's the first spinoff since UNCG opened a tech-transfer office last year. EcoGenomix technology can detect microbes such as anthrax and botulism more quickly than older methods. "If you disturb water in any way, the [DNA] fingerprint will change. No matter what terrorists come up with, we'll see the change."

Button hopes to hire a replacement with expertise specifically in bioterrorism. With a bachelor's in biology in 1982 and an MBA in 1987 from UNCG, he sees himself as part scientist, part entrepreneur. He figures he can grasp the science behind a...