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.
Scope and Contents
Maynard Olson, an early architect of the Human Genome Project, is interviewed by Mila Pollock and Kiryn Haslinger on June 6, 2003, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.Maynard Olson discusses the following in his interview:
Scene 1. Involvement in genomics -- Scene 2. Albert Committee -- Scene 3. Surprises in the Human Genome Project -- Scene 4. Jim Watson and the Human Genome Project -- Scene 5. Competition in Science -- Scene 6. Craig Venter and...
Scope and Contents
Michael Ashburner speaks about topics relating to his participation in genomics and gene regulation research. His recollections of the key participants in the competition between the public and private efforts to sequence the human genome, Craig Venter's formation of Celera Genomics, details surrounding the 1996 Bermuda Principles on Data Release, and the first Collaborative Annotation Jamboree held in 1999 are among the topics discussed. Ashburner also relates his experiences coming to the...
Scope and Contents
David Cox and Richard Myers, are interviewed by Mila Pollock and Kiryn Haslinger, on May 31, 2003, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
David Cox's interview discusses the following:
LIFE IN SCIENCE:
Evolving Careers, Roles, and Relationship,
Division of Labor,
Strengths of the Relationship,
The Cox and Myers Partnership,
Radiation Hybrid Mapping.GENOME RESEARCH:
Challenges of the HGP,
Involvement in Genomics,
Craig...
Scope and Contents
The Oral History Collection contains interviews conducted with 200 scientists within the fields of molecular biology, genetics, and the life sciences between 1990 and 2024. The interviewees provide first-hand accounts of their experiences in the fields of modern biology, such as neuroscience, cancer, genetics, plant genetics, genomics, biotechnology and others, from the 1940s through the 2000s. The collection contains audio and video recordings, as well as transcripts of interviews....
Scope and Contents
Richard Gibbs, geneticist and a leader in human genome sequencing, discusses his research correlating gene mutations and disease phenotypes, and the Human Genome Project (HGP.) He remembers the participants and issues discussed at international genome meetings, including the 'Bermuda Principles,' conferences. He recalls key HGP players: Jim Watson, Francis Collins, John Sulston, and Craig Venter. Other topics discussed by Gibbs are ethical issues in genomics, including gene patenting, the...
The Dr. Gerald Rubin Collection contains documents pertinent to the Drosophila sequencing project collaboration in 1999, the Celera Genomics collaboration, and correspondence with the Department of Energy concerning support for model organism sequencing.
Scope and ContentsFrom the Collection:
CSHL Meetings and Courses Symposia Oral History Interviews contain interviews conducted with 337 scientists within the fields of molecular biology, genetics, and the life sciences, between 2004 and 2018. The interviewees provide first-hand accounts of their experiences in the fields of modern biology as neuroscience, cancer, genetics, plant genetics, genomics, biotechnology and others. The collection contains video recordings. The collection is organized by year of the interviews. Different...
Scope and ContentsFrom the Series:
The correspondence series includes handwritten and typed letters, carbon copies, postcards and notes dating from 1916-2012. The bulk of the material covers Watson’s sojourn in Cambridge (1951-1954), Harvard (1956-1975) and as Director (1968-1994), President (1994-2003), Chancellor (2003-2007), and Chancellor Emeritus (2007-2011) of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Watson’s career at the Copenhagen Crystallography Lab and time at California Institute of Technology are...
Scope and ContentsFrom the Series:
The Special Events series is comprised of files regarding special occasions, such as awards ceremonies, galas, dinners, travel, commencements, and personal meetings with visiting scientists and biotechnology companies. The series includes files related to awards and honorary degrees Watson has received throughout his career. This series also includes files about the sale of Francis Crick papers at Auction and the sale of Watson's Nobel Prize in 2014. The series...
