An independent panel of judges selected the following entries from 36 nominations:
- Professor Shankar Balasubramanian, University of Cambridge, for the creation of Solexa sequencing, a technology for sequencing genomes;
- Dr Ian Bancroft, Dr Martin Trick, Fiona Fraser and Dr Rachel Wells, John Innes Centre, for the development of sequence-based tools to accelerate crop breeding;
- Professor David Becker, UCL, for nexagon, a novel drug for healing chronic wounds;
- Professor Benjamin Davis, University of Oxford for the use of synthetic biology in the creation of bioconjugate technologies;
- Professor Dave Goulson, University of Stirling, for the creation of bumblebees for everyone;
- Professor Christopher Lowe, University of Cambridge, for "smart" holograms;
- Dr Michael McArthur, John Innes Centre, for developing potent novel antibacterials to combat drug-resistant bacterial infections.
The seven finalists are competing for a £5,000 prize in each of three categories:
- Commercial Innovator;
- Social Innovator;
- Most Promising Innovator.
One of the three category winners will be selected as the overall Innovator of the Year 2010 and receive a further £5,000.
All seven finalists will make a presentation to the judging panel on 18 March, and the winners will be announced later that evening during an awards ceremony and gala dinner at East Wintergardens, Canary Wharf, London.