Title of Presentation

“Human Genomics and the Future of Medicine”

In 1995 J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. and team at the Venter Institute sequenced the first genome in history followed five years later when Celera Genomics published the first draft human genome which was a composite of five individual’s genomes. In 2007 he and his team at the J. Craig Venter Institute published the first complete diploid human genome, which was his genome. While these genomes were an important starting point for research, they were not enough to change health care. We need hundreds of thousands to have their own genome sequenced and done so at a complete and accurate level to have sufficient data to interpret the genome. Cost was prohibitive and the technology was not yet robust enough in 2007 to make this a reality. However, three years ago this changed with the advent of new sequencing technology and improved bioinformatics and machine learning tools.

In 2013, Dr. Venter co-founded Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) to better understand the human genome by sequencing tens of thousands of genomes and combining the sequence data with clinical data and phenotype data. In his lecture Dr. Venter will discuss what has happened since the early days of genomics and how he and his team are now working toward their goal of revolutionizing the practice of medicine, changing it from a reactive state to a proactive-preventive state.

HLI is building the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of whole genome, phenotype and clinical data. The company is developing and applying large-scale computing and machine learning to make novel discoveries and change the way we diagnose and treat disease. These combined datasets is called the HLI Knowledgebase™, which is a tool that can lead to new discoveries in genomic-based medicine. Currently there are more than 25,000 complete genomes with associated phenotypic data in the database and the company is building toward 1 million integrated health records by 2020. The Knowledgebase will enable pharmaceutical companies, insurers and healthcare providers to impact and improve health—helping to develop therapeutic solutions to some of the most complex yet actionable diseases, including cancer, diabetes and obesity, heart and liver diseases, and dementia.

Dr. Venter and his team are infusing genomics into the foundation of the practice of medicine in a new platform called the Health Nucleus, a state-of-the-art, freestanding health center where individuals receive a complete biological and health assessment of themselves through genome, microbiome, metabolome sequencing, along with comprehensive MRI body scans and other more traditional clinical testing. This unique health assessment gives individuals the opportunity to learn more about themselves and their health than ever before. There should also be an eventual cost-savings–life savings, as diseases are either prevented or caught earlier before they progress.

We are discovering life-altering diseases in 30 percent to 40 percent of apparently healthy individuals going through the Health Nucleus. These discoveries range from early-stage tumors including brain tumors, to aneurisms, polycystic liver and kidney disease. Early-stage tumors are completely curable before they invade tissues and spread to other areas. Aneurysms are all treatable, but can cause sudden death if they are not identified. These are just a few examples of health issues that Dr. Venter will outline in his wide ranging and engaging lecture which will provide evidence that more monitoring and data about you is better than less.

Profile

Web Site URL

http://www.humanlongevity.com/

http://www.jcvi.org/cms/home/

http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/

A brief Biography

J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research. He is co-founder, executive chairman and CEO of Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), a San Diego-based genomics-based, technology-driven company creating the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of whole genome, phenotype and clinical data. HLI’s goal is to extend healthy human life by revolutionizing human health and transforming the practice of medicine.

In addition to his role at HLI, Dr. Venter is founder, chairman, and CEO of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research organization with approximately 200 scientists and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic and environmental genomic research, and the exploration of social and ethical issues in genomics.

Dr. Venter also is co-founder, executive chairman and co-chief scientist of Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), a privately held company focused on developing products and solutions using synthetic genomics technologies.

Dr. Venter began his formal education after a tour of duty as a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. After earning both a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California at San Diego, he was appointed professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In 1984, he moved to the National Institutes of Health campus where he developed Expressed Sequence Tags or ESTs, a revolutionary new strategy for rapid gene discovery. In 1992 Dr. Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR, now part of JCVI), a not-for-profit research institute, where in 1995 he and his team decoded the genome of the first free-living organism, the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, using his new whole genome shotgun technique.

In 1998, Dr. Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome using new tools and techniques he and his team developed. This research culminated with the February 2001 publication of the human genome in the journal, Science. He and his team at Celera also sequenced the fruit fly, mouse and rat genomes.

Dr. Venter and his team at JCVI continue to blaze new trails in genomics. They have sequenced and analyzed hundreds of genomes, and have published numerous important papers covering such areas as environmental genomics, the first complete diploid human genome, and the groundbreaking advance in creating the first self- replicating bacterial cell constructed entirely with synthetic DNA.

Dr. Venter is one of the most frequently cited scientists, and the author of more than 280 research articles. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, public honors, and scientific awards, including the 2008 United States National Medal of Science, the 2002 Gairdner Foundation International Award, the 2001 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize and the King Faisal International Award for Science. Dr. Venter is a member of numerous prestigious scientific organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Society for Microbiology.

Details of selected Awards and Honors

2000	King Faisal International Award for Science, King Faisal Foundation – Saudi Arabia
2001	The Takeda Award in the Individual and Humanity Well–being Field, Takeda Foundation – Tokyo, Japan Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
2002	Gairdner Foundation International Award – Toronto, Canada Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, Paul Ehrlich Foundation – Frankfurt, Germany
2007	Scripps Institute of Oceanography Nierenberg Prize – La Jolla, CA
2008	Double Helix Medal for Scientific Research – Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – New York, NY
2009	2008 National Medal of Science – Washington, DC
2012	Dan David Prize – 2012 Future – Genome Research – Tel–Aviv University – Tel–Aviv, Israel
2015	Leeuwenhoek Medal 2015 presented by Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology (KNVM), The Netherlands

A list of selected Publications

Hutchison CA 3rd1, Chuang RY1, Noskov VN1, Assad-Garcia N1, Deerinck TJ2, Ellisman MH2, Gill J3, Kannan K3, Karas BJ1, Ma L1, Pelletier JF4, Qi ZQ3,Richter RA1, Strychalski EA4, Sun L1, Suzuki Y1, Tsvetanova B3, Wise KS1, Smith HO5, Glass JI1, Merryman C1, Gibson DG5, Venter JC5. Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome. Science. 2016 Mar 25; 351(6280): aad6253. doi: 10.1126/science.aad6253.

Dormitzer PR, Suphaphiphat P, Gibson DG, Wentworth DE, Stockwell TB, Algire MA, Alperovich N, Barro M, Brown DM, Craig S, Dattilo BM, Denisova EA, De Souza I, Eickmann M, Dugan VG, Ferrari A, Gomila RC, Han L, Judge C, Mane S, Matrosovich M, Merryman C, Palladino G, Palmer GA, Spencer T, Strecker T, Trusheim H, Uhlendorff J, Wen Y, Yee AC, Zaveri J, Zhou B, Becker S, Donabedian A, Mason PW, Glass JI, Rappuoli R, Venter JC. Synthetic generation of influenza vaccine viruses for rapid response to pandemics. Sci Transl Med. 2013 May 15;5(185):185ra68.

Gibson DG, Glass JI, Lartigue C, Noskov VN, Chuang RY, Algire MA, Benders GA, Montague MG, Ma L, Moodie MM, Merryman C, Vashee S, Krishnakumar R, Assad-Garcia N, Andrews-Pfannkoch C, Denisova EA, Young L, Qi ZQ, Segall-Shapiro TH, Calvey CH, Parmar PP, Hutchison CA 3rd, Smith HO, Venter JC. Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome. Science. 2010 Jul 2;329(5987):52-6. Epub 2010 May 20.

Gibson DG, Benders GA, Andrews-Pfannkoch C, Denisova EA, Baden-Tillson H, Zaveri J, Stockwell TB, Brownley A, Thomas DW, Algire MA, Merryman C, Young L, Noskov VN, Glass JI, Venter JC, Hutchison CA 3rd, Smith HO. Complete Chemical Synthesis, Assembly, and Cloning of a Mycoplasma genitalium Genome. Science. 2008 Feb 29;319(5867):1215-20. Epub 2008 Jan 24.

Levy S, Sutton G, Ng PC, Feuk L, Halpern AL, Walenz BP, Axelrod N, Huang J, Kirkness EF, Denisov G, Lin Y, MacDonald JR, Pang AW, Shago M, Stockwell TB, Tsiamouri A, Bafna V, Bansal V, Kravitz SA, Busam DA, Beeson KY, McIntosh TC, Remington KA, Abril JF, Gill J, Borman J, Rogers YH, Frazier ME, Scherer SW, Strausberg RL, Venter JC. The diploid genome sequence of an individual human. PLoS Biol. 2007 Sep 4;5(10):e254.

Lartigue C, Glass JI, Alperovich N, Pieper R, Parmar PP, Hutchison CA 3rd, Smith HO, Venter JC. Genome transplantation in bacteria: changing one species to another. Science. 2007 Aug 3;317(5838):632-8.

Yooseph S, Sutton G, Rusch DB, Halpern AL, Williamson SJ, Remington K, Eisen JA, Heidelberg KB, Manning G, Li W, Jaroszewski L, Cieplak P, Miller CS, Li H, Mashiyama ST, Joachimiak MP, van Belle C, Chandonia JM, Soergel DA, Zhai Y, Natarajan K, Lee S, Raphael BJ, Bafna V, Friedman R, Brenner SE, Godzik A, Eisenberg D, Dixon JE, Taylor SS, Strausberg RL, Frazier M, Venter JC. The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition: expanding the universe of protein families. PLoS Biol. 2007 Mar;5(3):e16.

Venter JC, Adams MD, Myers EW, Li P, Mural RJ, Sutton GG, Smith HO, Yandell M, Evans CA, Holt RA, Gocayne JD, Amanatides P, Ballew RM, Huson DH, Wortman JR, Zhang Q, Kodira C, Zheng ZH, Chen, L., Skupski M, Subramanian G, Thomas PD, Zhang J, Miklos GL, Nelson C, Broder S, Clark AG, Nadeau J, McKusick VA, Zinder N, Levine AJ, Roberts R, Simon M, Slayman C, Hunkapiller M, Bolanos R, Delcher A, Dew I, Fasulo D, Flanigan M, Florea L, Halpern A, Hannenhalli S, Kravitz S, Levy S, Mobarry C, Reinert K, Remington K, Abu-Threideh J, Beasley E, Biddick K, Bonazzi V, Brandon R, Cargill M, Chandramouliswaran I, Charlab R, Chaturvedi K, Deng Z, Di Francesco V, Dunn P, Eilbeck K, Evangelista C, Gabrielian, AE, Gan W, Ge W, Gong F, Gu A, Guan P, Heiman TA, Higgins ME, Ji R-R, Ke Z, Ketchum KA, Lai Z, Lei Y, Li Z, Li J, Liang Y, Lin X, Lu F, Merkulov GV, Milshina N, Moore HM, Naik AK, Narayan VA, Neelam B, Nusskern D, Rusch DB, Salzberg S, Shao W, Shue B, Sun J, Wang ZY, Wang A, Wang X, Wang J, Wei M-H, Wides R, Xiao C, Yan C, Yao A, Ye J, Zhan M, Zhang W, Zhang H, Zhao Q, Zheng L, Zhong F, Zhong W, Zhu SC, Zhao S, Gilbert D, Baumhueter S, Spier G, Carter C, Cravchik A, Woodage T, Ali F, An H, Awe A, Baldwin D, Baden H, Barnstead M, Barrow I, Beeson K, Busam D, Carver A, Center A, Cheng ML, Curry L, Danaher S, Davenport L, Desilets R, Dietz S, Dodson K. Doup L, Ferriera S, Garg N, Gluecksmann A, Hart B, Haynes J, Haynes C, Heiner C, Hladun S, Hostin D, Houck J, Howland T, Ibegwam C, Johnson J, Kalush F, Kline L, Koduru S, Love A, Mann F, May D, McCawley S, McIntosh T, McMullen I, Moy M, Moy L, Murphy B, Nelson K, Pfannkoch C, Pratts E, Puri V, Qureshi H, Reardon M, Rodriguez R, Rogers Y-H, Romblad D, Ruhfel B, Scott R, Sitter C, Smallwood M, Stewart E, Strong R, Suh E, Thomas R, Tint NN, Tse S, Vech C, Wang G, Wetter J, Williams S, Williams M, Windsor S, Winn-Deen, E, Wolfe K, Zaveri J, Zaveri K, Abril JF, Guigó R, Campbell MJ, Sjolander KV, Karlak B, Kejariwal A, Mi H, Lazareva B, Hatton T, Narechania A, Diemer K, MuruganujanA, Guo N, Sato A, Bafna V, Istrail S, Lippert R, Schwartz R, Walenz B, Yooseph S, Allen D, Basu A, Baxendale J, Blick L, Caminha M, Carnes-Stine J, Caulk P, Chiang Y-H, Coyne M, Dahlke C, Deslattes Mays A, Dombroski M, Donnelly M, Ely, D, Esparham S, Fosler C, Gire H, Glanowski S, Glasser K, Glodek A, Gorokhov M, Graham K, Gropman B, Harris M, Heil J, Henderson S, Hoover J, Jennings D, Jordan C, Jordan J, Kasha J, Kagan, L., Kraft C, Levitsky A, Lewis M, Liu X, Lopez J, Ma D, Majoros W, McDaniel J, Murphy S, Newman M, Nguyen T, Nguyen N, Nodell M, Pan S, Peck J, Rowe W, Sanders R, Scott J, Simpson M, Smith T, Sprague A, Stockwell T, Turner R, Venter E, Wang M, Wen M, Wu D, Wu M, Xia A, Zandieh A, Zhu X. Sequencing of the Human Genome. Science. 2001 Feb 15;291(5507): 1304-1351.

Adams MD, Celniker SE, Holt RA, Evans CA, Gocayne JD, Amanatides PG, Scherer SE, Li PW, Galle RF, George RA, Hoskins RA, Lewis A, Richards S, Ashburner M, Henderson SN, Wortman JR, Yandell MD, Zhang Q, Chen LX, Brandon RC Rogers Y-HC, Blazej RG, Champe M, Pfeiffer BD, Svirskas RR, Wan KH, Doyle C, Baxter EG, Helt G, Nelson CR, Gabor Miklos GL, Abril JF, Agbayani A, An H-J, Baldwin D, Ballew RM, Basu A, Baxendale J, Bayraktaroglu L, Beasley EM, Beeson KY, Benos PV, Berman BP, Bhandari D, Bolshakov S, Borkova D, Botchan MR, Bouck J, Brokstein P, Brottier P, Burtis KC, Busam DA, Butler H, Cadieu E, Center A, Cherry JM, Cawley S, Dahlke C, Davenport LB, Davies P, de Pablos B, Delcher A, Deng Z, Deslattes Mays A, Dew I, Dietz SM, Dodson K, Doup LE, Downes M, Dugan-Rocha S, Dunkov BC, Dunn P, Durbin KJ, Evangelista CC, Ferraz C, Ferriera S, Fleischmann W, Fosler C, Gabrielian AE, Garg NS, Gelbart WM, Glasser K, Glodek A, Gong F, Gorrell JH, Gu Z, Guan P, Harris M, Harris NL, Harvey D, Heiman TJ, Hernandez JR, Houck J, Hostin D, Houston KA, Howland TJ, Ibegwam C, Jalali M, Kalush F, Karpen GH, Ke Z, Kennison JA, Ketchum KA, Kimmel B, Kodira CD, Kraft C, Kravitz A, Kulp D, Lai Z, Lasko P, Lei Y, Levitsky AA, Li J, Li Z, Liang Y, Lin X, Liu X, Mattei B, McIntosh TC, McPherson D, Merkulov G, Milshina NV, Mobarry C, Morris J, Moshrefi A, Mount SM, Moy M, Murphy B, Murphy L, Muzny DM, Nelson DL, Nelson DR, Nelson KA, Nixon K, Nusskern DR, Pacleb JM, Palazzolo M, Pittman GS, Pan S, Pollard J, Puri V, Reese M, Reinert K, Remington K, Saunders RDC, Scheeler F, Shen H, Shue C, Sidén-Kiamos I, Simpson M, Skupski MP, Smith T, Spier E, Spradling AC, Stapleton M, Strong R, Sun E, Sutton GG, Tector C, Turner R, Venter E, Wang AH, Wang X, Wang Z-Y, Wassarman DA, Weinstock GM, Weissenbach J, Williams SM, Woodage T, Worley KC, Wu D, Yang S, Yao QA, Ye J, Yeh R-F, Zaveri JS, Zhan M, Zhang G, Zhao Q, Zheng L, Zheng HX, Zhong FN, Zhong W, Zhou X, Zhu S, Zhu X, Smith HO, Gibbs R, Myers EW, Rubin GM, Venter JC. The Genome Sequence of Drosophila melanogaster. Science. 2000 Mar 24;287:(5461):2185-2195.

Fleischmann RD, Adams MD, White O, Clayton RA, Kirkness EF, Kerlavage AR, Bult CJ, Tomb J-F, Doughtery BA, Merrick JM, McKenney K, Sutton G, FitzHugh W, Fields C, Gocayne JD, Scott J, Shirley R, Liu L-I, Glodek A, Kelley JM, Weidman JF, Phillips CA, Spriggs T, Hedblom E, Cotton MD, Utterback TR, Hanna MC, Nguyen DT, Saudek DM, Brandon RC, Fine LD, Fritchman JL, Fuhrmann JL, Geoghagen NSM, Gnehm CL, McDonald LA, Small KV, Fraser CM, Smith HO, Venter JC. Whole-Genome Random Sequencing and Assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd. Science. 1995 Jul 28;269(5223):496-512.