Written by Administrator

Jul 27, 2009

Dr. J. Craig Venter and the team of scientists at his institute are at the forefront of synthetic biology. They are working on, among other things, the creation of a bacterium that will both pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and create natural gas. You might think this sounds like a far off dream, but they are optimistic they can get this done sooner rather than latter.

Dr. Venter’s track record makes the claim more noteworthy. Here’s a list of thing’s Dr. Venter has accomplished already:

1) He worked at the National Institutes of Health we a team to develop expressed sequence tags (ESTs), a new technique to rapidly discover genes. (1991) 2) He started a not for profit research institute on genomic research in the early 90s- The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). 3) His team became the first to sequence a free living organism, Haemophilus influenzae (accomplished in 1995) 4) He was part of one the first groups to sequence the human genome. (2001 – Celera Genomics) 5) He went on a two-year ocean voyage and collect different genomes from all sorts of sea life. The global ocean sampling expedition found more than six million new genes and thousands of new protein families. 6) He has created an the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) by merging several leaders in genomic research and amassed a group of more than 400 scientists and staff, more than 250,000 square feet of laboratory space, and locations in Rockville, Maryland and San Diego, California. (the merger included The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) , The Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG), The J. Craig Venter Science Foundation, The Joint Technology Center, and the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA)) 7) His team successfully transformed one species of bacteria into another, which is a major milestone in synthetic biology. His institute patented the foundation genome they created, M. genitalium JCVI-1.0

The finished “to do list” Dr Venter and his colleagues have accomplished is far more impressive than my list, which normally involves picking up groceries and dry cleaning.

So now JCVI is using their collection of genomes, army of scientists, and knowledge of synthetic biology to create the natural-gas-creating-carbon-dioxide-eating bacterium. It sounds a lot more plausible given the list of accomplishments to date. Oh, and by the way, they are on a “quest to create a synthetic chromosome and organism”, which is even more stuff of science fiction. Go to the J. Craig Venter Institute web site and look at it’s history, (www.jcvi.org). You will find they “seek to make a worldwide impact with our science”. Clearly, they are serious and have the track record to make it happen.

When discussing synthetic biology it’s hard not to bring up the ethical issues involved in creating new life forms. If you are interested in reading more on this, there is an excellent article on the topic called “Synthetic biology, ethics and the hacker culture” at:

http://2020science.org/2008/06/13/8613-synthetic-biology-ethics-and-the-hacker-culture/