Craig Venter

Craig Venter is an author, biochemist, geneticist and entrepreneur, most famous for his role in being one of the first to sequence the human genome and for creating the first cell with a synthetic genome. He is the founder of Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research, and the J. Craig Venter Institute.

Craig Venter is working to create synthetic biological organisms and to document genetic diversity in the world’s oceans. His awards include Time Magazine’s 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world; British Magazine’s New Statesman named him #14 on The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures of 2010.

While at the National Institute of Health, Craig began to use the technique to rapidly identify all of the mRNAs present in a cell in human brain genes. The short cDNA sequence fragments discovered by this are called expressed sequence tags. Currently, Craig Venter is the president of the J. Craig Venter Institute, which conducts research in synthetic biology. He is the co-founder of Synthetic Genomics, and in 2006, ExxonMobil announced a $600 million partnership with Synthetic Genomics to research and develop next-generation biofuels. Craig Venter has also written two books, an autobiography A Life Decoded, and his second work was titled Life at the Speed of Light.

Craig Venter is available for public speaking, personal appearances and public events.

APPEARANCES: The Colbert Report, TED,

BOOKS: A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life

TO WORK WITH CRAIG VENTER: Social media expert Craig Venter can be hired for speaking engagements and events in roles such as corporate appearances, endorsements, speaking.