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Original air date:
12.19.07
Genetically Engineering a Better Future
January 24, 2008 - Updated News from WIRED.com:
Craig Venter and scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute build first man-made genome. Click here to read the article.
John Craig Venter is scientist who has always done things his own way. This was never more apparent than during the late 1990’s when his company, Celera Genomics, tried to beat the international consortium of scientists known as the Human Genome Project (HGP) in the race to sequence the human genome. Along the way, Venter got rich, made more enemies than friends, and revolutionized the way we learn about our genes.
Born in Salt Lake City in 1946, Venter found his way to the Navy. Despite the opportunity to avoid the draft with an enrollment in college, Venter enlisted and served a tour of duty in Danang, Vietnam from 1967 to1968. When he returned, he picked up where he left off, earning a Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of California at San Diego.
In 1984 Venter pursued his growing interest in genomics at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. There, he pioneered the use of Expressed Sequence Tags (EST’s) in the identification of the genes of the human brain. EST’s are used to rapidly identify genetic material.
Venter realized that his successes at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) could lead to a whole new industry borne out of the sequencing of the human genome. In 1998 he founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome and create a market for the information. At the same time, HGP, one of the largest cooperative science projects in history, was doing the very same thing. The highly publicized race was thought to be a lopsided contest, as Celera had just a fraction of the resources of HGP. However, Venter and his team surprised the world, as their faster sequencing technique proved a success. Despite Celera’s initial claim of victory, the race was declared a draw in January of 2000 in what many saw as a politically calculated compromise.
Despite all the fanfare and recognition Celera and Venter received, they were unable to turn the company into a profitable venture. He left in 2006 after a major battle with the company’s board of directors. The iconoclastic Venter may have been knocked down, but he certainly wasn’t out, as he walked away with more than $100 million in Celera and other stock holdings.
After some soul searching, Venter decided to put this newfound wealth to work. In 2006, he founded and now serves as President of the John Craig Venter Institute (JVCI) by merging TIGR and a number of affiliated not-for-profit institutions. The amalgamated entity is a research and support organization with over 500 scientists in a variety of disciplines. Among the organization’s goals is creating artificial DNA sequences to build functioning synthetic genomes, which can then be inserted into cells. Basically, they are trying to build whole new life forms. The goal would be to give this human-made organism specific genes which would allow it to perform particular environmental tasks, like consuming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or even making hydrogen for fuel cells.
Venter is back in the game of big science, and, once again, he’s doing it his way.
Chris Hardwick joins Craig Venter aboard Sorcerer II for a WIRED SCIENCE Chat.
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12.19.07 5:48 PM PST
Robert Michael Foster, MA
The good doctor talked about biofuels. He talked about making hydrogen directly from hydrocarbons by using engineered bacteria. Unfortunately, he needs to ask some engineers about how to handle the hydrogen after you produce it. See http://RecoveryByDiscovery.com/hydrogen.htm where you can find some of what the challenges in using hydrogen as a biofuel are. VR, RMF
12.19.07 5:50 PM PST
Manosij Guha
Craig Venter is a god of science in a rare interview...but Chis Hardwick as an interviewer is borderline annoying who not only doesnot allow his subject speak, but also there is no visual imagery to break down the abstruse concepts of the human genome into understandable nuggets. Nor was any attempt made to capture the scientist at work walking thru his complex lab-work. Chris's questions did not carry the program forward, and at times interrupted its fluidity.
And to think a simple talking head could not be illuminated without hot spot on the subject and interviewer's forehead, doesnt speak volumes of the photography either.
12.19.07 6:52 PM PST
Bill Daniels
Chris Hardwick's interview with Craig Venter was the best interview I have ever watched on television. I may have to revise my low regard for the medium.
12.19.07 6:56 PM PST
Rob Mahan
This interview was a fascinating introduction to Craig Venter. I hadn’t connected his time in Viet Nam with his age and was amazed to hear that he was almost sixty-one years old. With his work in genomics, I would love to know what he is doing to look and sound so young and energetic!
I thought Chris Hardwick did a fine job with the interview. I don’t think he interrupted Venter at all, the tape was obviously edited.
12.19.07 10:03 PM PST
Ellen Shurtleff
The interview with Craig Venter made me wish I were on his ship working with him. It gave me a better opinion of him than I had gotten previously from the news. His choice of using his own genome to sequence had been presented as being egotistical, but now I found out why he did, although I had thought myself that it might have been simply that it was the most readily available.
12.20.07 1:06 AM PST
CG GEBHART
Craig Venter's interview was pretty good. These genome recreations and artificial chromosome insertions for organism metabolites and bio-fuels and I agree with the other abstruse comment. If it's known that human skin contains 182 normal microbiologicals (bacteria) and the human digestive tract with another great set of microbiologicals wouldn't these have to be included in a totally complete human genome? Have they ever been included? Are these pronouncements of Complete Human Genome premature?
12.20.07 1:12 PM PST
Herbert Hughes
Thank goodness there are still a few men like him today!
I found the interview to be one of the most interesting thing I have seen on Television.
12.21.07 7:03 AM PST
John Rolff
More lip service from Wired for Venter. Anyone actually associated with genome sequencing or who understands the science knows that Venter beat no one to the genome. His WGS could not assemble without the public efforts sequence, FPC and physical map, and ancillary information. The whole-genome shotgun approach had been discussed for years--and is currently used for "re-sequencing" projects, where one has a high resolution reference genome.
12.21.07 10:45 PM PST
Fred J
How does a company like Celera never showing a profit have severance packages of $100 million?
12.22.07 10:46 PM PST
Insider Info
Venter claims in the interview that it was decided he would take the risk, due to insurance reasons and so forth to be the first person to have his genome sequenced. I had heard otherwise...that the Human Genome Project (a government funded initiative) was supposed to be a combination of anonymous donors' DNA, or a blind "lotto" of sorts where noone knew whose DNA was chosen. But it ended up being Venter's own DNA and many people weren't happy about it. And who was it who wanted the right to patent DNA sequences to "cash in" on the biotech applications of the HGP? Yep, that was Venter. (See among other sources the article "Who Owns Your DNA?" by Arthur Allen in Salon.com (March 7, 2000): http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/03/07/genetic_test/index.html)
1.23.08 12:00 AM PST
ruben siedner
dear dr venter,
I happened to listen to your lecture "a DNA-driven world" transmitted by BBC-world TV some days ago and I'd like to congratulate you for this wonderful experience. not only was your lecture filled with marvellously organized didactical scientific information, it was a critical political message saturated by a deep human and humane approach. the world needs scientists like you, please raise your voice more loudly.
thank you!
ruben siedner
(Jerusalem/Tuebingen-Germany)
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