Craig Venter quotes

Craig Venter is an American biotechnologist known for his pioneering work in sequencing the human genome. His innovative approaches have had a profound impact on genetics and synthetic biology. He is also recognized for creating the first synthetic cell. Here are 12 of his quotes:

Moving forward in science is as much unwinding the distorted thinking of the past as it is putting a clearer idea on the table.

Craig Venter

At the hearing I not only described the EST method and the rapid rate of human gene discovery but also voiced by concerns about NIH's patent efforts, a subject I was glad to get out in the open. The room went quiet as many were startled by this discovery and then Watson suddenly shouted that it was "sheer lunacy" to file such patents, adding that "virtually any monkey" could use the EST method and that he was "horrified." As Cook-Deegan, a Duke University genome discussant, described the event, "Watson was lying in wait and took aim with heavy artillery." Cook-Deegan, who was Watson's assistant at the time, told me later that Watson had practiced the lines for a week prior to the hearing.

Craig Venter

I could trace own EST brainwave to a flight back from a trip to Japan. But, of course, great ideas are often simultaneously conceived by several people who have responded in a similar way to the climate of thinking, and it can be hard to pin down when and precisely how a flash of inspiration is born. Kaplan had taught me that good ideas are a dime of dozen for a smart person, and the only thing that distinguishes good from great is in how an idea is executed-how it becomes reality. Scientific history is littered with stories of one person having an idea but not following through on it only to see another have a similar inspiration and then prove it to be valid.

Craig Venter

The environment has fallen to the wayside in politics.

Craig Venter

Intellectual property is a key aspect for economic development.

Craig Venter

Genome design is going to be a key part of the future. That's why we need fast, cheap, accurate DNA synthesis, so you can make a lot of iterations of something and test them.

Craig Venter

I am absolutely certain that life can exist in outer space, move around, find a new aqueous environment.

Craig Venter

It appears that the human genome does indeed contain deserts, or large, gene-poor regions.

Craig Venter

Tenure actually delivers a doubly whammy to the organizations that endure this outmoded arrangement.

Craig Venter

Privacy with medical information is a fallacy. If everyone's information is out there, it's part of the collective.

Craig Venter