Home / Series / TED Talks / Aired Order / Season 2008 / Episode 33

Craig Venter: On the verge of creating synthetic life

"Can we create new life out of our digital universe?" asks Craig Venter. And his answer is, yes, and pretty soon. He walks the TED2008 audience through his latest research into "fourth-generation fuels" -- biologically created fuels with CO2 as their feedstock. His talk covers the details of creating brand-new chromosomes using digital technology, the reasons why we would want to do this, and the bioethics of synthetic life. A fascinating Q&A with TED's Chris Anderson follows (two words: suicide genes).

English
  • Originally Aired March 10, 2008
  • Runtime 34 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Network YouTube
  • Created February 16, 2025 by
    morbus
  • Modified February 16, 2025 by
    morbus