Splice summer series brings you the interesting discussion with the most intriguing and provocative minds in modern science. If you ever run out of ideas for your scientific research or get stuck while thinking about your career, these short shots of inspiration can give you a new perspective on trends in science and the global community to which you as a scientist and a researcher belong.

“I actually started my career late in life. I used to be a surfer, got drafted into the military, and became interested in medicine and tools of genetics as a way to develop science. I got very interested in the human genome project and decided to do it.” Craig Venter

Craig Venter and David Agus, the leading names in today’s cutting-edge science, technology and medicine, take the discussion about the future of science on a whole new level: from human genomics, synthesizing life, proteomics and machine learning, to pornography, longevity, hacking our immune system, crime scene investigations and generating photos of a person based on nothing more than the person’s genetic code and even determining age, sex and height of a person based on a person’s voice.

“What happens if you get people to live to 200 years? – I say that’s fine but we should castrate all of them… we’ll wipe out the planet if we change human lifespan to 200 years with our current standard.“ Craig Venter

Take a half hour coffee break and emerge in the discussion about new technologies that are transforming chemical biosynthesis, medicine, the way we treat diseases and many other aspects of science.

“It’s the notion that DNA changes are necessary but not sufficient to develop cancer. The seed doesn’t always grow unless the soil is right. The challenge is defining that system that would either push us toward the disease or away from the disease. To me diseases are verbs not nouns. I want to keep you in that health state, so even if the molecular changes happen, the cells won’t change and grow.” David Agus

In our Splice Summer Edition, we are featuring the interview “How biology and big data converge in the medicine world” (Fortune Magazine) where Fortune’s Cliff Leaf talks with David Agus, MD, Professor of Medicine and Engineering; Director at USC and J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. Co-founder, Executive Chairman and CEO, Human Longevity Inc. about redefining the future of science, technology and medicine. Enjoy!

 

By Tea Pavlek, MSc, BioSistemika LLC