J. Craig Venter

Founder, CEO and Chairman at J. Craig Venter Institute

Craig Venter is a biologist renowned for his contributions in genomics including sequencing the first draft human genome, the first complete diploid human genome and construction of the first synthetic bacterial cell. He and his teams’ current research programs include continued analysis of the human genome with a focus on the intersection of the genome and all physical characteristics and how this relates to disease and health; the human microbiome; synthetic biology advances; infectious diseases; and discovering and understanding genetic diversity in the world’s oceans. Venter is a recipient of the 2008 National Medal of Science and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of The Voyage of Sorcerer II: The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome (Harvard University Press, 2023), Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life (Viking, 2013) and A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life (Viking, 2007).

Speaker Sessions

InSight Sessions – From Reading to Writing the Genome

2:10 pm

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2:30 pm

The Loft

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.