Famed biologist Craig Venter spoke to a joint session of the SSI Space Manufacturing 14 Conference and NASA’s Synthetic Biology Workshop last month at the NASA Ames Conference Center. The full video archives for the Space Manufacturing Conference are here. You can view PowerPoint presentations here.
J. Craig Venter (Credit: Public Library of Science)
Craig Venter
J. Craig Venter Institute
— Few things excite his imagination than trying to design people and organisms for the long-term settlement of space
— Created a bacterial cell controlled by chemically synthesized genome earlier this year
— Mapped the human genome for the first time 15 years ago
— Can now map a human genome in a couple of days with a machine that costs about $500,000
— NASA has been doing genetic selection for quite some time — astronaut selection — without really admitting it…why not make it more rigorous?
— Screen for traits that are highly compatible for space — inner ear changes that eliminate motion sickness, minimize bone loss, etc.
— If people are going to be traveling and living in space for a long period of time, might think about engineering humans for with these traits
— Every person who goes to ISS is bringing maybe 10 million bacteria, genes, etc. with him/her
NASA MEDIA ALERT
News media are invited to attend a discussion lead by world famous biologist J. Craig Venter, best known for his role in sequencing the human genome and creating the first cell “booted up†from a synthetic genome.
Biology on Earth readily demonstrates that life is an efficient user of resources surrounding it, turning those resources into habitats, materials and forms that perform various functions. If the promise of engineering biology on Earth is within reach, then it is time to ask scientists and engineers about possible applications of synthetic biology in space.
Don’t miss your last chance to sign up for the 14th SSI Space Manufacturing and Space Settlement Conference in Silicon Valley from Oct. 29-31. Registration for the conference will close at 5 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, Oct. 26. To attend, please sign up now at https://ssi.org/2010-conference-space-manufacturing-14/ The conference includes two days of sessions at the NASA Ames Conference Center and several events at the Sheraton Sunnyvale Hotel. Highlights include: “Moon, […]
SSI PRESS RELEASE
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (Oct 18, 2010) — Famed biologist and entrepreneur Dr. Craig Venter will give a special talk on synthetic genomics during the Space Studies Institute’s Space Manufacturing 14 conference in Mountain View, Calif. on Oct. 30.
Venter — best known for his pioneering work in sequencing the human genome and creating the first cell with a synthetic genome earlier this year — will give a 90-minute talk and Q&A session on the role that synthetic genetics will play in the future settlement of space. Venter will speak about how this emerging technology can be utilized in closed-loop life support systems, mineral extraction and synthesis, and other processes.
X Prize Founder Peter Diamandis just Tweeted: “Flying into Zero G today with James Cameron, Jim Gianopulos, Craig Venter, Elon Musk and a number of X PRIZE trustees and donors!” Cameron, of course, is the director of “Avatar.” Elon Musk is founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Motors. Craig Venter is a venture capitalist and biologist best known for his pioneering work in sequencing the human genome and creating […]
Famed biologist and entrepreneur Craig Venter will give a special talk on synthetic genomics during the Space Studies Institute’s Space Manufacturing 14 conference in Mountain View, Calif. Venter — best known for his pioneering work in sequencing the human genome and creating the first cell with a synthetic genome earlier this year — will speak at the NASA Ames Conference Center on Saturday, Oct. 30 from 5-6:30 p.m. The talk, […]
