5 ms·

I was curious about the disagreement over his predictions from 1998, so I looked it up. I don't think it reflects well on him. Spiegel interview 2010: SPIEGEL

I was curious about the disagreement over his predictions from 1998, so I looked it up. I don't think it reflects well on him. Spiegel interview 2010: SPIEGEL: The genome project has been called the Manhattan Project or Moon Landing of its era. It has also been said that knowledge of the genes will change the future of humanity and become a "main driver of the world economy." Venter: Who said that? I didn't. That was the people at the consortium. SPIEGEL: You're wrong. You made all those statements in an interview with DER SPIEGEL in 1998. Venter: Really? Those are Francis Collins' lines. So I may have said that that's how he describes it. I, on the other hand, have always said, "This is a race from the starting line to the finish." Spiegel interview 1998 (translated to German by Spiegel and back to English with Google Translate[1]): SPIEGEL: What does the knowledge of the genetic material? Venter: The End of Ignorance, a completely new understanding of the human body and a revolution in medicine. What we plan is there, of the order of the Manhattan Project or the moon flights. The decoding of the genome will change the self-image of humanity. [1] http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-7972392.html&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhhtyOWCfoxOrojkUDuXwu8uuAG5-g http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&#38...

yurylifshits 16y ago
Well, he was not saying anything about "economics driver". I guess his remark "I was not saying this" was about economic part of the claim.
- ugh 16y ago
  He did (Google translation, same interview): SPIEGEL: How much money do you think the human genome is worth? Venter: In any case, a lot. Each of the major pharmaceutical companies is constantly working on 50-60 new drugs. If only a part of the future knowledge of the human genome based on, then this alone brings hundreds of billions of dollars in the next decade. The knowledge of the human genes is one of the strongest drivers of the global economy.
rwmj 16y ago
According to this excellent book I read: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backroom-Boys-Secret-Return-British/dp/0571214967 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backroom-Boys-Secret-Return-British/... Venter also wanted to patent the whole human genome once he'd sequenced it. It was only by a huge and expensive effort by the Wellcome charity that the genome was sequenced and made freely available. If you enjoy reading ..AGAAACCATCAGCACA.. then: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3501 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3501 This is also discussed in the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project Anyway, the book I linked to is great fun.
- ben1040 16y ago
  Venter also wanted to patent the whole human genome once he'd sequenced it. It was only by a huge and expensive effort by the Wellcome charity that the genome was sequenced and made freely available Not only Wellcome (although their Sanger Centre was a major player), but a whole worldwide bucket of public money. It also bears mentioning too that on March 14, 2000 Bill Clinton and Tony Blair issued a joint statement saying that the results of genomic sequencing shouldn't be patented. The biotech sector lost $40bn in value as a result[1], as it became evident the patent business model was dead. [1]http://books.google.com/books?id=FOk3LE70l1EC&lpg=PA284&ots=CvGQ1E6YuC&dq=celera%20stock%20crash%20march%2014%202000&pg=PA284#v=onepage&q=celera%20stock%20crash%20march%2014%202000&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=FOk3LE70l1EC&lpg=PA284&...
SoftwareMaven 16y ago
I don't think the comments themselves reflect poorly on him. Late 90's would have been significantly influenced by the bubble and who wasn't thinking how much the sequenced genome would be worth. Twelve years is a long time to reverse-map current feelings and knowledge onto previous memories. The part that reflects poorly, IMO, is how he tries to pin it on Collins when faced with the quotes. I can understand why the interviewers didn't press the issue, but I would have liked to see them press it.

yurylifshits 16y ago

Well, he was not saying anything about "economics driver". I guess his remark "I was not saying this" was about economic part of the claim.

ugh 16y ago
He did (Google translation, same interview): SPIEGEL: How much money do you think the human genome is worth? Venter: In any case, a lot. Each of the major pharmaceutical companies is constantly working on 50-60 new drugs. If only a part of the future knowledge of the human genome based on, then this alone brings hundreds of billions of dollars in the next decade. The knowledge of the human genes is one of the strongest drivers of the global economy.

rwmj 16y ago

According to this excellent book I read: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backroom-Boys-Secret-Return-British/dp/0571214967 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backroom-Boys-Secret-Return-British/... Venter also wanted to patent the whole human genome once he'd sequenced it. It was only by a huge and expensive effort by the Wellcome charity that the genome was sequenced and made freely available. If you enjoy reading ..AGAAACCATCAGCACA.. then: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3501 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3501 This is also discussed in the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project Anyway, the book I linked to is great fun.

ben1040 16y ago
Venter also wanted to patent the whole human genome once he'd sequenced it. It was only by a huge and expensive effort by the Wellcome charity that the genome was sequenced and made freely available Not only Wellcome (although their Sanger Centre was a major player), but a whole worldwide bucket of public money. It also bears mentioning too that on March 14, 2000 Bill Clinton and Tony Blair issued a joint statement saying that the results of genomic sequencing shouldn't be patented. The biotech sector lost $40bn in value as a result[1], as it became evident the patent business model was dead. [1]http://books.google.com/books?id=FOk3LE70l1EC&lpg=PA284&ots=CvGQ1E6YuC&dq=celera%20stock%20crash%20march%2014%202000&pg=PA284#v=onepage&q=celera%20stock%20crash%20march%2014%202000&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=FOk3LE70l1EC&lpg=PA284&...

SoftwareMaven 16y ago

I don't think the comments themselves reflect poorly on him. Late 90's would have been significantly influenced by the bubble and who wasn't thinking how much the sequenced genome would be worth. Twelve years is a long time to reverse-map current feelings and knowledge onto previous memories. The part that reflects poorly, IMO, is how he tries to pin it on Collins when faced with the quotes. I can understand why the interviewers didn't press the issue, but I would have liked to see them press it.