As a researcher on the front lines of some of the most exciting advances in genomics, Dr. Venter will give the audience a guided tour of these seminal projects such as decoding the first and most complete human genome and constructing the first synthetic bacterial cell. He then outlines how he and his teams are building on this research and continue to blaze new trails in a diverse but interrelated portfolio of work including better understanding of human genomics and onset of disease, continued understanding of the biology of the minimal synthetic cell and the use of synthetic biology tools to create new and improved products such as biofuels, and ongoing work in the environment to better understand how climate change is affecting the world’s oceans and how to combat microplastics.