Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | Reason : Interviews | print version

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Craig Venter - The Genius of Charles Darwin: The Uncut Interviews

Richard Dawkins, Craig Venter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E25jgPgmzk

(QT coming soon)

Richard Dawkins interviews Craig Venter for "The Genius of Charles Darwin", the Channel 4 UK TV program which won British Broadcasting Awards' "Best Documentary Series" of 2008. Craig Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research and has been credited with being instrumental in mapping the human genome. His team published the first complete genome of an individual human - Venter's own DNA sequence.

If you enjoy this interview and would like to see more and/or support our ability to bring these to you free online, buy the full 3-DVD set of uncut interviews (over 18 hours) in the RichardDawkins.net store:

This footage was shot with the intention of editing for a television program. What you see here is the full extended interview, which includes a lot of rough camera transitions that were edited out of the final program (along with a lot of content).

Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #392559 by Dave White on June 30, 2009 at 6:27 pm

I enjoy the doorman who comes out to shoo Dawkins and the film crew away in the first few seconds. It's actually a bit sad. I guess you have to appreciate his dedication to the job!

Other Comments by Dave White

2. Comment #392560 by Steve Zara on June 30, 2009 at 6:37 pm

What a fantastic opening statement, rejecting any "naturalist" agenda.

Other Comments by Steve Zara

3. Comment #392568 by HappyPrimate on June 30, 2009 at 7:16 pm

Super interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Other Comments by HappyPrimate

4. Comment #392569 by black wolf on June 30, 2009 at 7:39 pm

Imagine the next generation, just going to 'have their genome done' one afternoon. Actually, it will probably be possible for us within the next ten years, I estimate.

Other Comments by black wolf

5. Comment #392571 by mybelle on June 30, 2009 at 7:56 pm

The exponential leaps in proficiency being made annually is staggering. This was quite interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Other Comments by mybelle

6. Comment #392578 by cfarach1 on June 30, 2009 at 9:21 pm

Just fascinating!

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7. Comment #392580 by -ID62- on June 30, 2009 at 9:36 pm

Solara is right down the street from me here in Rockville MD. I didn't catch the location of the new facility. I know a man that worked for Venter for years in the non-profit arm called TIGR, the institute for genomic research. He ran the team that sequenced influenza, among others. Owen White is his name, and he is one of the most cited scientists in the world. Venter has really spawned a whole movement and a number of careers.
He will be one for the history of science books for sure.

Other Comments by -ID62-

8. Comment #392582 by Rational_G on June 30, 2009 at 10:04 pm

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Thanks so much for posting this.
There is hope for the human race after all.

Other Comments by Rational_G

9. Comment #392584 by mordacious1 on June 30, 2009 at 10:12 pm

Hey, they walked right past the "lab coats required" sign.

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10. Comment #392586 by Scandinavian07 on June 30, 2009 at 10:21 pm

I woke up a bit depressed this morning, alot of stuff going on in my life.

I usually check this web page because it makes me feel better about my fellow organisms.

This was an absolute joy to watch.

Other Comments by Scandinavian07

11. Comment #392588 by Alternative Carpark on June 30, 2009 at 10:46 pm

"I don't play fictional characters..."

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12. Comment #392590 by Gwiss on June 30, 2009 at 11:09 pm

This is fantastic.
"Boot it up from scratch." haha, brilliant!

Other Comments by Gwiss

13. Comment #392592 by mordacious1 on June 30, 2009 at 11:25 pm

I wonder where the money comes from? Private investors?

And that machine that is going to replace the whole room of machines...ten years from now it will be a hand-held.

Like the joke about Steve Job's new liver: A third the size of his old one, faster, and holds 1000 more enzymes.

Other Comments by mordacious1

14. Comment #392593 by yyy on June 30, 2009 at 11:43 pm

One thing that seems kind of weird to me: it was mentioned that 2 individual humans share about 98% of their genes. I assume its about the same for lions, yet male lions sometimes kill cubs that don't belong to them. It would seem that the 98% of shared genes would exert selection pressure to *not* kill those cubs and even be altruistic toward them, rather than having a mere 2% exert all that influence. Maybe I'm not thinking about alleles correctly or something. I guess a father and cub share a lot more genes than 2 random unrelated individuals.

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15. Comment #392594 by righton on June 30, 2009 at 11:43 pm

Venter is great. His book is very inspirational.

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16. Comment #392599 by Dog Boots on July 1, 2009 at 12:43 am

That was great to watch!

What's on next week? The Discovery Institute? ;o)

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17. Comment #392605 by AllanW on July 1, 2009 at 1:19 am

Terrifically interesting vid; thanks for putting it here.

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18. Comment #392606 by chemical scum on July 1, 2009 at 1:21 am

lol, annoying security woman.

Craig Venter is great!

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19. Comment #392636 by Bernard Baptiste on July 1, 2009 at 3:04 am

Brilliant! Craig Ventner is great to listen to. He explains such complex ideas clearly and communicates his enthusiasm for his projects excellently. I can understand how those who believe in an imagined creator would be envious of our human capacity for real "intelligent design" and understanding of evolution's processes.

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20. Comment #392638 by black wolf on July 1, 2009 at 3:16 am

yyy, the lion thing is that after the cubs are killed, the female rapidly regains her fertility, which is suppressed as long as she still has young to feed. The killer then impregnates her, giving his own genes an advantage and removing his rival's from the pool. No matter how large their similarities are, one's own genes have a higher similarity, even if it's just 98.1% for example.

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21. Comment #392639 by the great teapot on July 1, 2009 at 3:20 am

Comment 1
What doorman?

Venter is a genius.
Who would have thought several machines worked faster than one. I assume that's why he is in charge.

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22. Comment #392644 by the great teapot on July 1, 2009 at 3:34 am

sarcasm button turned off.
Very interesting.

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23. Comment #392648 by black wolf on July 1, 2009 at 4:02 am

At 23:40, I spotted God in the background. Oh, no sorry my bad, it's just a red bucket.

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24. Comment #392649 by the great teapot on July 1, 2009 at 4:04 am

I was pleased the director interrupted the conversation because there wasn't enough scene change going on.
Priceless.
From now on Richard I suggest you insist on filming nothing unless Josh is in charge.

Other Comments by the great teapot

25. Comment #392653 by the great teapot on July 1, 2009 at 4:27 am

Flabbergasted.

But whatever you do Richard don't stop walking :)

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26. Comment #392655 by the great teapot on July 1, 2009 at 4:35 am

Why was the laundry room the only one protected by security controls?

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27. Comment #392657 by black wolf on July 1, 2009 at 4:55 am

Why was the laundry room the only one protected by security controls?

Interesting observation. Interesting to observe the things you observe. Someone should closely observe you. ;)

Other Comments by black wolf

28. Comment #392708 by Humanist Wikitopian on July 1, 2009 at 8:50 am

Yet another fascinating and highly educational video to add to my YouTube favourites and share with everyone that I can convince to watch!

Also, here's a very interesting and excellent read on the seemingly exponential progress and advancement of new technology, as discussed in the interview:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Singularity-Near-Raymond-Kurzweil/dp/0715635611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246462852&sr=8-1

Review by Bill Gates: "Ray Kurzweil is the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence. His intriguing new book envisions a future in which information technologies have advanced so far and fast that they enable humanity to transcend its biological limitations - transforming our lives in ways we can't yet imagine."

About Ray Kurzweil: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Kurzweil

Other Comments by Humanist Wikitopian

29. Comment #392724 by RightWingAtheist on July 1, 2009 at 11:34 am

I like people who make things happen. I especially like his efforts to turn it into a self-sustained business which will become cheap enough that it can be something everyone just does without thinking about it. Technology hasn't really triumphed until it has turned into something we take for granted, like being able to buy an iPod at Walmart. If an invention is still "special", it hasn't done its job yet.

Other Comments by RightWingAtheist

30. Comment #392731 by rod-the-farmer on July 1, 2009 at 12:41 pm

Great stuff. Can someone recommend a video going into more detail on the process & benefits etc. of sequencing genomes ? I would like to become more familiar with details of the topic.

Other Comments by rod-the-farmer

31. Comment #392736 by Ygern on July 1, 2009 at 1:05 pm

One of the most interesting uncut interviews to date, which is all the more impressive because of the stiff competition it is up against.

When Craig Venter is talking about doctors potentially (in 5 years ) being able to treat conditions with preventative medicine or medicine more specifically tailored to the specific genome of their patient; is he for the most part talking about hypothetical future treatments that will be formulated / developed on the basis of the research and discoveries being done now?

Other Comments by Ygern

32. Comment #392766 by Noe Sandoval on July 1, 2009 at 2:18 pm

Fascinating discussion.

But, admittedly, all of those yes's and oh yes's were a little unsettling ;).

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33. Comment #392772 by tantrangle on July 1, 2009 at 2:30 pm

I have a thought. It seems that science's Utilitarian world-view is just as arrogant and self-serving as any religion. Science subscribes to the same deification of humans as any religion. We are the one's who decide what to do with the knowledge we gain through science- and for the most part the products of science only serve to cure the ills of our toiling civilization. Armed with the belief that Humans are the only sentient beings (or any other animal that we decide: Save the Whales, but fuck anything that annoys us) on this planet. Science will do all it can to save a human life while at the same time the Utilitarian world-view has caused and is causing countless deaths (human and non-human) hell, we've build entire civilizations based on this believe. I'm not saying we must stop exploring, but why must we bend everything to serve ourselves? Have we become the gods now?

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34. Comment #392780 by TurkishAtheist on July 1, 2009 at 2:52 pm

wow, what a facility they must have spent millions of millions of dollars for this

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35. Comment #392781 by silent mike on July 1, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Sweet

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36. Comment #392804 by thereisnodog on July 1, 2009 at 3:58 pm

just wonderful...amazed at what we can achieve. i think i have the fat gene.

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37. Comment #392809 by jignle on July 1, 2009 at 4:09 pm

Tantrangle:

"I have a thought."

Your giving yourself too much credit. You haven't had a thought; your brain just took a dump.

To describe the rest of what you wrote as a turd... is almost too kind.

/lurk

Other Comments by jignle

38. Comment #392813 by Goldy on July 1, 2009 at 4:20 pm

Talking of Darwin...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5713093/Majority-think-it-is-possible-to-believe-in-God-and-Darwin.html

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39. Comment #392820 by Dya Z on July 1, 2009 at 5:13 pm

Industrial Biology.
one day biologists will be automated too...

Just kidding

Other Comments by Dya Z

40. Comment #392828 by debacles on July 1, 2009 at 6:12 pm

8:55 to 9:00...hilarious

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41. Comment #392847 by BweWeston on July 1, 2009 at 8:52 pm

That was fantastic and very entertaining. Thankyou.

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42. Comment #392849 by astronomer24 on July 1, 2009 at 10:37 pm

Purely awesome. I cant wait to get my genome analyzed or whatever.

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43. Comment #392852 by mordacious1 on July 1, 2009 at 11:04 pm

As to benefits of mapping human genomes, here is an article where they have discovered a link between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/unlocked-the-secrets-of-schizophrenia-1727987.html

From the article:

"Scientists have discovered a remarkable similarity between the genetic faults behind both schizophrenia and manic depression in a breakthrough that is expected to open the way to new treatments for two of the most common mental illnesses, affecting millions of people."

Other Comments by mordacious1

44. Comment #392854 by zengardener on July 1, 2009 at 11:33 pm

37:29 This reminds me of Akira Karasawa with the foreground in shot, but then, it also reminds me of so many slasher flicks. I think the cameraman was stalking them.

Poor blokes meandering around aimlessly amongst millions and millions of $s worth of computers. I half expected them to take a wrong turn and end up in the parking lot.

I love the way they kept emphasizing the staggering growth of processing power. I kept remembering the scene in "Waking Up In The Universe" where Dawkins invited kids to use his ancient Mac to simulate the evolution of some digital spider. He would ask,"Have you ever used a mouse?"

Truly Priceless.
I enjoyed this vid on so many levels.

Other Comments by zengardener

45. Comment #392865 by Ygern on July 2, 2009 at 2:13 am

@ tantrangle

Where are you getting your ideas from? Almost everything you have written there is wrong. Science and scientists do not deify humans in any way, if anything science has taught us that humans are unlikely to be the only sentient life in the universe - let alone on the planet - and science is most emphatically not "the cause" of countless deaths. And as for your assertion that entire civilizations have been built on science's "utilitarian world-view"...which civilizations would those be?

Your post reads like someone who has just watched Ben Stein's Expelled and has been completely taken in by it.

Other Comments by Ygern

46. Comment #392875 by Memebrain on July 2, 2009 at 3:22 am

It's funny how Venter seems to think that a theory is an imperfect fact, "Evolution is no longer a mere theory to me" (paraphrased).
Dawkins has to jump in and state, without ambiguity, that "evolution is a fact".

Other Comments by Memebrain

47. Comment #392877 by Roger Stanyard on July 2, 2009 at 3:33 am

tantrangle claims

I have a thought. It seems that science's Utilitarian world-view is just as arrogant and self-serving as any religion. Science subscribes to the same deification of humans as any religion. We are the one's who decide what to do with the knowledge we gain through science- and for the most part the products of science only serve to cure the ills of our toiling civilization. Armed with the belief that Humans are the only sentient beings (or any other animal that we decide: Save the Whales, but fuck anything that annoys us) on this planet. Science will do all it can to save a human life while at the same time the Utilitarian world-view has caused and is causing countless deaths (human and non-human) hell, we've build entire civilizations based on this believe. I'm not saying we must stop exploring, but why must we bend everything to serve ourselves? Have we become the gods now?

What the heck are you talking about in this half-baked incoherent rant?

Other Comments by Roger Stanyard

48. Comment #392883 by Humanist Wikitopian on July 2, 2009 at 4:20 am

Video on TED.com: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/barry_schuler_genomics_101.html

Barry Schuler: Genomics 101

"What is genomics? How will it affect our lives? In this intriguing primer on the genomics revolution, entrepreneur Barry Schuler says we can at least expect healthier, tastier food. He suggests we start with the pinot noir grape, to build better wines."

Enjoy!

,-)

Other Comments by Humanist Wikitopian

49. Comment #392885 by Humanist Wikitopian on July 2, 2009 at 4:30 am