Craig Venter, who booted up the first synthetic cell, dies at 79
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Craig Venter, a pioneering geneticist known for creating the first synthetic cell, died at 79 in San Diego following complications from cancer treatment. He gained prominence for his role in sequencing the human genome through his company Celera Genomics, competing with the public Human Genome Project. Venter also advanced genomics through innovations like expressed sequence tags and global ocean microbial sampling via his yacht, the Sorcerer II.
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Craig Venter, who booted up the first synthetic cell, dies at 79 Ellsworth Toohey 4:08 pm Thu Apr 30, 2026 Dr. J Craig Venter, founder of Celera Genomics (Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com) In 2010, Craig Venter and his colleagues took a bacterial genome they had designed on a computer, assembled it from chemical building blocks, transplanted it into an empty cell, and watched the cell start dividing. The result, Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0, was the first organism alive on Earth whose parents were a hard drive and a chemistry set. Venter died Tuesday in San Diego at 79, the J. Craig Venter Institute said; he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized for unexpected complications of the treatment. Most obituaries will lead with the human genome.
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