Dr J Craig Venter presents this Centenary Prestigious Lectureon; “Genomics – From Humans to the Environment”
Abstract: In this year alone, the J. Craig Venter Institute will have announced the discovery of more than six million new genes and thousands of new protein families from organisms found in sea water; the world’s first successful transfer of an entire genome from one bacterium cell to another; the completion of a new human genome analysis; and, likely, the creation of the world’s first synthetically built microbe.
In this Imperial College London Centenary Prestigious Lecture, Dr Craig Venter will discuss his work at the J. Craig Venter Institute and its implications for the future of our culture, society and science. The Institute’s projects include developing new understanding of human disease at the DNA level, running the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition to understand microbial diversity in the world’s oceans and finding new ways of tackling environmental issues, especially the production of new biological sources of energy. One of its many goals is to engineer microbes that can produce biological sources of fuel. Dr Venter and his team believe that genomics is the field of science that has the power to transform the world around us.
Biography: Dr Craig Venter is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the twenty-first century for his numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research. He is Founder, Chairman, and President of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research and support organization with more than 500 scientists and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant and environmental genomic research, the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics, and seeking alternative energy solutions through genomics.
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’s degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California at 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), 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 his new whole genome shotgun technique. TIGR, which was recently merged into the JCVI, sequenced more than 50 genomes using Dr. Venter’s techniques.
In 1998, Dr Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome using new tools and techniques he and his team developed. The successful completion of 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 and his team at the Venter Institute continue to blaze new trails in genomics research and have recently published several important papers covering such areas as environmental genomics, synthetic genomics and the sequence and analysis of the dog genome.
Dr Venter, one of the most frequently cited scientists, is the author of more than 200 research articles. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, public honours, and scientific awards, including the 2001 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, and the 2002 Gairdner Foundation International Award. Dr Venter is a member of numerous prestigious scientific organisations including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society for Microbiology.
The lecture is hosted by the Imperial College London in association with Penguin Books. Craig Venter’s autobiography “A Life Decoded” is published by Penguin Books and will be available to purchase before and after the event.
To register for this event please email your name and address to centenary@imperial.ac.uk