It's been just over a month since Merck announced plans to shut down its 300-person Rosetta Inpharmatics unit in Seattle. Now details are emerging of efforts to spin off some Rosetta research units before the closure.

We're hearing that Eric Schadt, a star genetics scientist at Rosetta, is exploring setting up a foundation of some kind, and has sought funding from a variety of technology luminaries including people connected with Microsoft, Google and Facebook.

Schadt, who joined Rosetta in 1999, is an expert in genetic and molecular profiling data and has helped "define a new field in statistical genetics," according to a bio on the company's website. Schadt couldn't immediately be reached today.

Google has shown an interest in genetics in the past, having invested last year in a startup called 23andMe, which offers personal DNA analysis (the company was launched by Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wife).

Another possible Rosetta spinout is the company's Gene Expression Laboratory, an 80-person unit that does gene expressing, genotyping and microRNA profiling. Douglas Bassett, the Merck site head in Seattle, said the Gene Expression Laboratory is "exploring opportunities to keep that business open in spun-off mode in Seattle."

He declined to provide further detail, but said the lab once served a broad customer base, including large companies like Monsanto, prior to Merck's acquisition of Rosetta in 2001.

Merck earlier announced that one of Rosetta's units, Rosetta Biosoftware, will continue to function. Bassett confirmed this, saying the 60-person unit will remain in Seattle and remain part of Merck.

The efforts to spin out various Rosetta units comes as many of the Seattle employees consider whether to accept transfers to another Merck facility in the Boston area.