The player with the initiative places his bid marker next to one of the genes he desires. This is the amount of mutation points he is willing to surrender to acquire that gene. Then, in initiative order, every player does the same. If a player opts to bid on a gene upon which another player has already bid on, he must place his marker at least one number higher than that other player. This process continues until each gene has only one bid marker on it.
Players then subtract the equivalent mutation points from their score and acquire their new gene.
There is one gene, however, which allows a player to pay one less mutation point for each bid he wins. This bidding system is simple yet extremely effective. I enjoy watching bids escalate as players fight over a particular gene. Many times, I drop out of the bidding early and settle for a less desirable gene if I can acquire it at little or no cost in mutation points. I've used this tactic many times and gained 2 or 3 points on most of my opponents since they had engaged in a bidding war over more desirable genes.