John Craig Venter, an American scientist, businessman, and genomics researcher who was born on October 14, 1946, passed away at the age of 79. He was among the 90s' most important scientific pioneers.
He was credited with spearheading the first team to transfect a cell with a synthetic chromosome and one of the earliest draft sequencing of the human genome.Venter established the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), and Celera Genomics.
He co-founded Synthetic Genomics and Human Longevity Inc.
His work, which was characterized by daring innovation and intellectual rigor, created completely new opportunities for clinical application and study at Human Longevity, Inc. and around the world.
In 2007 and 2008, he was included in Time magazine's Time 100 list of the world's most important individuals. Craig Venter was ranked 14th out of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010" by the British magazine New Statesman in 2010.Venter received the Dan David Prize in 2012 in recognition of his contributions to genome research.
In 2013, he was chosen to join the American Philosophical Society.He served on the advisory board of the USA Science and Engineering Festival.
During the Sanger sequencing era, he came up with the idea for the current genome-wide shotgun sequencing aligned and variant called on a reference genome, which is currently extensively employed using short reads.
Beyond his accomplishments in science, Dr. Venter was a unique and fearless thinker who continuously questioned accepted wisdom and pushed the limits of what biological research could do.
He will be sorely missed.
