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Molecular biologist J. Craig Venter is a scientist whose status transcends his own circle. Within the last year, Venter has been interviewed or mentioned in dozens of newspaper stories. His bold, singular scientific adventures generate comment and criticism, and his direct, conversational approach sounds more plebian than patrician. He's not a man who readily bows to barriers, a quality the press finds irresistible.
Venter, 57, who introduced whole-genome shotgun sequencing and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) to the world, was a born scrapper. One of six children, Venter says he grew up in a household where amenities were few. Often in trouble at home and school, it was the witnessed horrors of Vietnam, where he served as a corpsman, which propelled him toward his future. "I have an attitude and intelligence," he says. "I was destined to make breakthroughs, or end up in trouble. There is seldom middle ground ...
