J. Craig Venter: "Designing Life" | 60 Minutes Archive
In a Nutshell
J. Craig Venter's team created the first synthetic bacterial species using a man-made DNA chromosome designed on a computer, a 15-year, $40 million milestone marking the dawn of synthetic biology. Venter envisions reprogramming cells like software to produce medicines, fuels, and foods—partnering with ExxonMobil ($300M) for CO2-eating algae that yields gasoline—while dismissing safety fears by emphasizing contained, non-pathogenic designs. Critics decry it as hubris akin to playing God, but Venter counters that humanity already alters life through agriculture and must innovate to sustain a growing population without environmental ruin.
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For generations, scientists have wrestled with creating new forms of life in the laboratory. Now that age is upon us. The latest milestone occurred this summer when microbiologist J. Craig Venter announced that a team of his scientists created a synthetic bacteria designed on a computer with man-made DNA. The announcement was greeted with praise, skepticism, and rancor, familiar territory for Venter.
Venter is one of the most famous scientists in the world, known for pioneering work in deciphering the human genetic code. He is also one of the most controversial, an iconoclast with a brilliant mind and an outsized ego who has flaunted conventional wisdom and tweaked the staid scientific establishment. Venter likes to go fast. He is an adrenaline junkie whose willingness to take big risks has led to bold scientific breakthroughs and he is not shy about touting those accomplishments.
Where would you rank yourself in terms of scientific accomplishments?
Well, in the field of genomics, I think the record is pretty clear-cut. So the first genome in history uh the first draft of the human genome the first complete version of the human genome and having the first uh synthetic cells.
So the answer to the question is pretty high.
I mean it's really hard to assess that yourself but I think the teams that we have and what we've accomplished are certainly amongst the biggest discoveries in modern science.
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