When the map of the human genome was presented to the world in 2001, psychiatrists had high hopes for it. Itemising all our genes would surely provide molecular evidence that the main cause of mental illness was genetic – something psychiatrists had long believed. Drug companies were wet... [More]

In a DER SPIEGEL interview, genetic scientist Craig Venter discusses the 10 years he spent sequencing the human genome, why we have learned so little from it a decade on and the potential for mass production of artificial life forms that could be used to produce fuels and other resources. &nb... [More]

Craig Venter and his team of scientists recently announced that they had created the first "synthetic cell" -- a bacterium controlled by genetic material that they had designed on a computer and concocted from four bottles of chemicals. This is the closest thing to creating life that has happe... [More]

Synthetic biology can be used to make nonpolluting fuel, instant vaccines against new diseases and inexpensive medicines, but it will take time, collaboration and a nurturing regulatory environment, scientists said on Thursday.  The researchers, along with an ethicist and members of Congre... [More]

  I'm sorry, what? It's a nice technical achievement. It involved the (remarkable) successful debugging of a fatal error halfway through. It didn't hurt that he had $40m on his side. But he (I should say, "they") basically put a synthetic copy of a natural genome into a natural placeho... [More]