MADISON -- One of the fastest growing corporate crops on what some are now calling the "Silicon Prairie" -- southern Wisconsin -- is biotechnology.

Wisconsin now ranks 10th in the country for biotech, with 200 companies and 4,700 employees, News3 reports.

In the third and final installment of News 3 reporter Joel DeSpain's series "Silicon Prairie," DeSpain examined Madison biotechnology company Third Wave Technologies.

Third Wave executives are among those being tapped by Gov. Tommy Thompson for ideas on how Wisconsin's biotech atmosphere can be further elevated.

Several companies, including Third Wave, are anchored in the University of Wisconsin-Madison research park.

"We started in 1993 with just an idea that we'd like to be able to look at the genetic code -- the letters that you get from your mother and father, and be able to come up with a technology that could analyze it faster, better and cheaper with the idea of helping doctors prescribe medicines that might work at the right place at the right time," Dr. Lance Fors, CEO and founder of Third Wave, said.

Four years ago, 20 scientists worked for Third Wave when it was in a small business incubator. Now there are 250 employees in what soon will be 100,000 square feet of corporate headquarters.

Third Wave is in a major growth spurt. They own a large manufacturing space in Sun Prairie, Wis., and new building plans are on the books, DeSpain reports.

"People that are coming out of California and coming out of the east coast, they're coming to Madison because of the quality of life issues," Third Wave chief operating officer Rocky Ganske said.

"That's a draw that we have, a chance to work in a exciting technology and an exciting industry in a place that's a nice place to raise a family," he said.