Craig Venter and the Scientific Entrepreneur

One of the most interesting talks at the TED conference this year was scientist Craig Venter’s. Particularly intriguing, at least to me, was that many people found his presentation unsettling. They didn’t like that the first scientist to get wildly rich from the human genome was so avid in his embrace of engineered life.

With that in mind, a critical piece by Steve Shapin in the current London Review of Books is worth reading. It concludes by calling Venter emblematic of modern academic scientists, embodying a "Belligerent, innovative, ambitious and entrepreneurial" approach.

Nice line. Now, if only that were more true. Anyway, here is Venter from TED this year:

Related posts:

1. TED 2008: Craig Venter Talking Synthetic Life
2. Sociology: Scientific Social Networks
3. Seven Technologies
4. The Scientist, 2.0
5. I am Craig, the Destroyer of Worlds