J. Craig Venter, PhD, founder, CEO and chair of the J. Craig Venter Institute, is a biologist renowned for his contributions in genomics including sequencing the first draft human genome, the first complete diploid human genome, and construction of the first synthetic bacterial cell.
He and his teams’ current research programs include continued analysis of the human genome with a focus on the intersection of the genome and all physical characteristics and how this relates to disease and health; the human microbiome; synthetic biology advances; infectious disease; and discovering and understanding genetic diversity in the world’s oceans.
Dr. Venter pioneered the notion of presymptomatic testing coupled with deep genomic sequencing to assess long term health of individuals. This was the basis for the formation of Human Longevity, Inc. He is currently embarking on a quest to utilize these same concepts but focused on a great area of unmet need—women’s health, to build the first of its kind, for-profit, transformative women’s health center. The center will encompass standard of care testing along with state of the art genomic and imaging powered by AI to deliver the best care to all women.
Dr. Venter began his formal education after a tour of duty as a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. After earning both a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and a PhD in physiology and pharmacology from the University of California San Diego, he was appointed professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In 1984, he moved to the National Institutes of Health campus where he developed expressed sequence tags or ESTs, a revolutionary new strategy for rapid gene discovery.
In 1992, Dr. Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR, now part of JCVI), a not-for-profit research institute, where in 1995 he and his team decoded the genome of the first free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, using the new whole genome shotgun technique.
In 1998, Dr. Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome using new tools and techniques he and his team developed. This research culminated with the February 2001 publication of the human genome in the journal, Science. He and his team at Celera also sequenced the fruit fly, mouse, and rat genomes.
Dr. Venter is one of the most frequently cited scientists, and the author of more than 280 research articles. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, public honors, and scientific awards, including the 2008 United States National Medal of Science, the 2002 Gairdner Foundation International Award, the 2001 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, and the King Faisal International Award for Science. Dr. Venter is a member of numerous prestigious scientific organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. Venter is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded several companies including Synthetic Genomics, Inc., (now Viridos), SGI DNA, (now Telesis Bio) and Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI).
He is also the author of “The Voyage of Sorcerer II: The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome” (Harvard University Press, 2023), “Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life” (Viking, 2013) and “A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life” (Viking, 2007).
The Voyage of Sorcerer II
Read the captivating story of exploration and discovery that chronicles the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition.