Lots of researchers have been decoding the genesof rare microbes, but only Venter did it by scooping up gallons of seawater from the deck of his 100-foot yacht.
He has begun decoding the genesof ten patients and intends to do so for thousands, making his findings publicly available to assist in unearthing new disease genes and understanding the societal impact of knowing your own genome.
Researchers hope the cache of new drug targets from decoding the map of all 30, 000 human genes will rescue them, but that could be five or ten years away.