Biography
J. Craig Venter, biologist and genomic research pioneer, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1946. Following military service in Vietnam, he studied biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego, where he also received a Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology in 1975. He joined the faculty of the Medical School of State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976, joining its affiliated Roswell Park Cancer Institute in 1982 as Professor and Associate Chief Cancer Research Scientist. Beginning in 1982, and for the next decade, Dr. Venter headed various sections of NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
In 1992 he founded The Institute for Genomic Research (known as TIGR) where he and colleagues became the first to successfully sequence the genome of an entire organism. Dr. Venter's Celera Genomics, founded in 1998, used a strategy known as the whole genome shotgun approach to compete with the publicly-funded Human Genome Project, which served to accelerate the mapping of the whole human genome by 2000. Dr. Venter founded the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in 2006 through the merger of several predecessor enterprises. A leader in genomic research, the JCVI announced in January 2008 that it had reated the largest synthetically derived DNA structure, advancing it towards its goal of creating a living cell based on an entirely synthetic genome. In September 2007, the JCVI announced the sequencing of Dr. Venter's genome, the first sequencing of an individual's genome. In 2010, scientists at the JCVI sequenced the genome of Mycoplasma mycoides, which was then inserted into a cell, making this cell the first with a completely synthetic genome. In 2022, the JCVI sold its La Jolla facility to UC San Diego. In addition to the JCVI, Dr. Ventner is a co-founder of Synthetic Genomics, which aims to produce clean fuels and biochemicals from genetically modified microorganisms. The company began a collaboration with ExxonMobile in 2009. Although he retired from the board of Synthetic Genomics in 2018, the engineering of microalgae to produce clean biolfuels continues to be one of Dr. Ventner’s research interests. Finally, Dr. Ventner collaborated with two colleagues in 2014 to create Human Longevity, Inc., which aims to use genomics to extend the human lifespan. He retired from this company in 2018.
Dr. Ventner is the author of several books, including Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life (2013), The Voyage of Sorcerer II: The Expedition that Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome (2023), and an autobiography, A Life Decoded (2007).
Among Dr. Venter's numerous awards and honors are the American Academy of Microbiology Fellow (1997), the American Chemical Society, Division of Biochemical Technology David Perlman Memorial Lectureship Award (2000), and the U.S. State Department, Secretary's Open Forum Public Service Award (2001), the Biotechnology Heritage Award of the Biotechnologoy Industry Organization and the Chemical Heritage Foundation (2001), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Double Helix Medal (2008), the National Medal of Science (2008),and the Dickson Prize in Medicine (2011). He was on Time magazine's 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Dr. Venter is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Microbiology, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Found in 22 Collections and/or Records:
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
Ari Patrinos, biologist and environmental scientist, is interviewed by Mila Pollock on March 3, 2006, at the J. Craig Venter Institute, in Rockville, Maryland.Ari Patrinos discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. Synthetic Genomics, Inc. -- Scene 2. Becoming a scientist -- Scene 3. Road to the Department of Energy -- Scene 4. Switching fields in science -- Scene 5. Early involvement in the Human Genome Project -- Scene 6. Opposition to sequencing the human genome at the...
Dates:
2006-03-03
File — Box 41, Folder: 7
Identifier: WAG_b41_f07_001
Scope and Contents
From the Series:
The CORRESPONDENCE series is divided into two sets, one from each accession. The first contains a small amount of letters and related material covering the period of 1954-2000 which were found unorganized in the first accession of material (Box 13). The bulk of this material relates to his time at Cambridge University (1954-1957), and includes correspondence with the National Science Foundation (regarding his fellowship), administrative material (including his admission letter), scientific...
Dates:
1989
File — Box 42, Folder: 1
Identifier: WAG_b42_f01_001
Scope and Contents
From the Series:
The CORRESPONDENCE series is divided into two sets, one from each accession. The first contains a small amount of letters and related material covering the period of 1954-2000 which were found unorganized in the first accession of material (Box 13). The bulk of this material relates to his time at Cambridge University (1954-1957), and includes correspondence with the National Science Foundation (regarding his fellowship), administrative material (including his admission letter), scientific...
Dates:
1990
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
Eric Lander, a principal leader of the Human Genome Project, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Kiryn Haslinger on June 3, 2003, at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Carnegie Library, in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.Eric Lander talks about the Human Genome Project, in particular the 1986 Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on the Molecular Biology of Homo Sapiens, and the competition between public and private efforts to sequence the human genome established by Craig Venter and Celera...
Dates:
2003-06-03
Item — Box AV01, miniDV: CSHL1036
Scope and Contents
Francis Collins, Human Genome Project leader, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Jan Witkowski, on May 31, 2003, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
Francis Collins discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia -- Scene 2. Bruce Stillman, Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory -- Scene 3. Jim Watson, personality and influence -- Scene 4. Jim Watson, personality and influence: the Human Genome Project -- Scene 5. Involvement...
Dates:
2003-05-31
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
Gerald Rubin, geneticist and molecular biologist, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Kiryn Haslinger on May 30, 2003, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.Gerald Rubin discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. Involvement in genomics -- Scene 2. Surprises in the Human Genome Project -- Scene 3. Dangers of the Human Genome Project -- Scene 4. Competition in science -- Scene 5. Gene patenting -- Scene 6. Future of genomics -- Scene 7. Science...
Dates:
2003-05-30
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
Hamilton Smith, microbiologist and Nobel Laureate, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Jan Witkowski, on March 3, 2006, at the J. Craig Venter Institute, in Rockville, Maryland.Hamilton Smith discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. An early interest in science -- Scene 2. From medicine to molecular biology -- Scene 3. Post-doctoral years with Mike Levine: P22 and the Int gene -- Scene 4. Arrival at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory -- Scene 5. The search for restriction...
Dates:
2006-03-03
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
Craig Venter, biologist and genomic research pioneer, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Jan Witkowski, on March 2, 2006, at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland.Craig Venter discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. Early involvement in genomics -- Scene 2. The beginning of automated sequencing -- Scene 3. ESTs development -- Scene 4. British research -- Scene 5. Challenges -- Scene 6. Decision to leave NIH -- Scene 7. 1998 Cold Spring Harbor Genome...
Dates:
2006-03-02
Item — Box AV04, miniDV: CSHL1194
Scope and Contents
James B. Wyngaarden discusses the following in his interview:
LIFE IN SCIENCE:
Becoming a Scientist;
Scientific Career Highlights;
Francis Crick;
Sydney Brenner.GENOME RESEARCH:
Opposition to the HGP;
HGP Influence on Biomedical Research;
Competition in Science;
Competition in Science: Public vs Private Work on the HGP;
Dangers of Genomic Research;
Gene Patenting;
Government Funding of Science;
Government Regulation of Science;
...
Dates:
2003-08-18
Item — Multiple Containers
Scope and Contents
John Sulston is interviewed by Georgina Ferry and Mila Pollock on June 15, 2015.
John Sulston discusses the following in his interview:
LIFE IN SCIENCE:
Advice to Young Scientists;
Being Awarded the Nobel Prize;
The Computer Programming Years 1984-1986;
Collaboration with Alan Coulson;
Working at MRC’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology;
Bob Waterston;
Frederick Sanger;
Biology of the Worm;
Establishing the Sanger Centre;
Mapping the Worm Genome;
...
Dates:
2015-06-15