Craig Venter
The Alien Genome
18/09/12 13:20 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Craig Venter, speaking at the Wired Health Conference in New York, said that his company Synthetic Genomics and the J. Craig Venter Institute plan to develop a machine capable of sequencing and beaming back DNA data from Mars to support a search for extra-terrestrial genomes. S. Pelech argues that this proposition may not be so audacious as there are many biochemical observations that support the concept that life on Earth may have originated from Mars. Read More...
Craig Venter, "Hopeless Businessman"
06/09/10 17:03 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
In a New York Times article, Craig Venter is quoted saying that he has been "successful in his finding alternate ways to fund research," although one of his venture capitalist friends, Alan Walton has commented that "Craig is just a hopeless businessman." S. Pelech points out that Dr. Venter is amongst those rare visionaries that are really driving scientific advancement forward, with or without the help of government agencies and charitable organizations, but also aided by other individuals of financial means or know how that share their visions. Read More...
Where No Genome Has Gone Before
17/06/11 13:22 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — DARPA — called for abstracts for papers or topics and suggestions for discussion for its 100 Year Starship Study Symposium to be held in Orlando, Fla., this fall which could lead to the award of a contract in the ballpark of $500,000. Craig Venter, according to Rebecca Boyle in Popular Science, proposed that "fragmented human genomes could be shipped toward the stars and reconstructed upon their arrival, spawning the first interstellar citizens and avoiding the problems of long-distance space survival." S. Pelech sheepishly comments that rather than sending fragmented human genomes, wouldn't it be simpler to send frozen human embryos that are nurtured with robotic systems? It might be a good idea to also include the embryos and seeds from a wide range of other organisms too, because it would be pretty dreary with only humans around. Read More...
Why Compete? Collaborate!
22/07/11 17:38 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Jeffrey Sheehan from the University of Pennsylvania in Business Insider described two talks related to collaboration and research productivity given by Jeremy Siegel and Craig Venter at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum held in San Francisco in June. Sheehan says these talks led him to realize that communication and cooperation are key "to enhance productivity and ... spread prosperity." S. Pelech comments that it seems like a no-brainer that collaboration is likely to be far more effective than competition, especially when there is a common goal where all participants benefit. He notes that the more funding that a research lab receives, the less likely that it will collaborate with other research groups, and that as a research team expands with higher funding, there is even more competition within the same group. Read More...
Why Craig Venter Isn't Actually God
28/05/10 12:50 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Many bloggers have been critical of the hype that Craig Venter has generated with the successful transplantation of a synthetic genome into a bacteria. S. Pelech feels that this achievement from Dr. Venter and his team is monumental, even if it is incremental, and that Dr. Venter has been entirely frank and reasonable about the accomplishment and its implications in public interviews. Read More...