Take several young Manitoba university grads, a small lab in Fort Garry, a brilliant idea imported from California and a couple of million dollars and put them together. What you get is Albert Friesen's not-so-secret recipe for a new prostate cancer test that might some day corner a $500-million market. If his tiny Miraculins company succeeds, it will have turned the new science of proteomics into cures and cash faster than many big players in the United States have been able to do.

Miraculins might sound like a far-fetched proposition by a bunch of sci-fi dreamers if it weren't for Friesen's reputation.

He is Manitoba's one-man biotech success story, the biochemist who was instrumental in founding the hugely successful Winnipeg company, Cangene, and who is now spawning new companies left and right.

At Miraculins, the young science of proteomics, which builds on genomics, is being pursued by young scientists.

On a recent morning in the Waverley Street building where Friesen's Genesys Ventures assists promising new health technology companies, the average age of staff in the Miraculins lab was under 30.

Handing young scientists and business grads a level of responsibility they could never dream of in a bigger city gives Friesen, chairman of Miraculins and president of Genesys, a business edge because it keep costs low.

But it's also part of the biotech entrepreneur's strategy to build capacity for biotechnology in Winnipeg.

If the city is going to be one of Canada's biotech hubs, companies just getting off the ground today will need experienced managers ready to run them over the coming decades.

"This job has put me years ahead of where I would be otherwise in my professional development path," said business analyst Michael Coutts, 26, who helps Genesys clients.

Miraculins was born out of Friesen's friendship with California scientist Phiet Bui, who fled Vietnam by boat in 1976 after giving up everything he owned. Academics were often targeted by the Communist regime even if they were not politically active.

Bui and Friesen had long discussed the idea of using a molecular profile of body fluids as a window into people's health status. By 1999, the emerging science of proteomics caught up with them.

Proteomics allows the recently unravelled genetic code of humans and other species to be used for practical applications. By systematically separating and studying the proteins created by the codes contained in genes, the new science identifies likely targets for new drug treatments.

Winnipeg is already on the proteomics map after University of Manitoba physicists built the new science's equivalent of a better mousetrap -- a mass spectrometer machine that does a better job of identifying proteins.

One tiny sample of blood or tissue can easily contain tens of thousands of protein molecules.

At a larger company, Sarah Savchuk, 26, would likely be performing only routine lab tests after graduating with a master of science degree from the University of Manitoba. But at Miraculins, she helps design experiments the company hopes will identify protein markers that could form the basis for a better prostate cancer test.

If successful, the publicly traded Winnipeg company is bound to be snapped up by a major international pharmaceutical firm. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, and the market for the current flawed PSA test is worth $500 million worldwide. But Miraculins has lots of competition.

Savchuk drops eight samples onto a thin metal strip called a protein chip that is inserted into a mass spectrometer. The company has a proprietary method for cutting down on the number of samples that need to undergo the expensive tests.

Her experience analysing proteins would be useful in labs researching other diseases or even new plant varieties.

"I could just as easily work for Monsanto as here," she said, referring to the agricultural biotechnology company specializing in genetically modified crops. Monsanto's Canadian headquarters is in Winnipeg.

Doug Barker, who at 33 is the head of research and development for Miraculins, said he might still be stuck doing post-doctoral work for professors if he had not been recruited home from the U.S.

In 2002, Miraculins was relocated from the biotech mecca of Southern California to Winnipeg, where rents are low, Genesys provides support and some of the world's best mass spectrometers are available at the University of Manitoba. Bui, who developed the technology that gives Miraculins its edge, remains president while continuing to live in California.

Friesen's track record makes it possible to raise funds from investors who trust his scientific instincts even if they don't always understand the company's technical handouts.

Coutts cautions there are no guaranteed home runs -- either for Miraculins or the giant pharmaceutical businesses around the world that are investing heavily in proteomics research.

Barker predicts that in 20 years, proteomics will be as routine a tool for scientific investigation as cloning of genes has become, but he has no idea what the big successes are most likely to be.

"You really can't predict how creative people are going to be," Barker said. "Maybe that science will be able to solve some really profound problems."