Craig Venter
John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1946, Salt Lake City) is an American biologist and businessman. He began his academic career at a community college, College of San Mateo (California), later enlisting in the navy and serving a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. On returning, he received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1972, and his Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology in 1975, both from the University of California, San Diego. After working at the State University of New York at Buffalo, he joined the National Institutes of Health in 1984.
He was the former president, founder, and chief scientific officer at Celera Genomics, which became famous for running a Human Genome Project on its own for commercial purposes, using shotgun sequencing technology in 1999. Most of the DNA used in this project was Venter's own.
Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research in 1992.
Venter is currently the president of the Center for the Advancement of Genomics.
