Word: venter
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Venter says he can do the job faster, cheaper and just as well. In May he announced a joint effort between his center, the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and Perkins-Elmer Applied Biosystems that he says will decipher virtually the entire human genome in three years and cost less than $300 million...
That announcement rankled Venter's many critics. At a scientific meeting at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, he was denounced as "the enemy." Some charged that he was not only trying to torpedo the Human Genome Project but was also maneuvering to become the Bill Gates of biotech. Just as Gates leverages his monopoly in computer operating systems to dominate other areas of the software industry, Venter may someday control information about the human genome--which in effect is the operating system of humans. That would enable him to hold sway over the burgeoning, multibillion-dollar business...
...Venter downplays those fears. "We're not trying to steal the Genome Project," he insists. "We're using private money to sequence the human genome. We're going to publish that information, give it to the public for free. We will guarantee that the human genome is not patentable because the information will be public." Still, biologist Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, is concerned about how freely data from the commercial project will be shared. Testifying last week, he urged against lessening support for the government project. "Having the public effort continue," Collins said...
Instead of assigning various segments of the genome to hundreds of scientists, as the Genome Project does, Venter plans to use what he calls whole-genome shotgunning. Essentially, he will put the entire genome in a dicer that will chop it into millions of segments. These chunks will be fed into 230 newly developed Perkins-Elmer robotic machines that will identify and sequence the DNA code letters in each segment. The company claims that they are 10 times more efficient than current sequencing machines and allow human operators to input in 15 minutes what used to take 24 hours...
Then the real work begins. Using new software developed by TIGR scientists, Venter's team will begin solving the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle: reassembling those millions of pieces into a coherent whole. It's a daunting task, and some scientists have grave doubts about whether Venter...