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Remembering J. Craig Venter: a relentless scientist who changed biotech — and was all too easily misunderstood

J. Craig Venter, a scientist whose relentless ambition helped turn genetics from an artisanal trade into an industrialized information machine, died Wednesday at 79. The cause was side effects of a cancer treatment.

Along the way, he did things that can only be described as really cool. He raced against a government-funded project to sequence the first human genome, grabbing headlines around the world; traveled the ocean in his sailboat collecting genetic information about sea life; and removed a bacterium’s genome and rebooted the organism with an identical set of genes he and his team had synthesized. He drove fast cars, drank red wine, and pissed people off.

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J. Craig Venter, a scientist whose relentless ambition helped turn genetics from an artisanal trade into an industrialized information machine, died Wednesday at 79. The cause was side effects of a cancer treatment.

Along the way, he did things that can only be described as really cool. He raced against a government-funded project to sequence the first human genome, grabbing headlines around the world; traveled the ocean in his sailboat collecting genetic information about sea life; and removed a bacterium’s genome and rebooted the organism with an identical set of genes he and his team had synthesized. He drove fast cars, drank red wine, and pissed people off.

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STAT+: Where ‘democracy met science,’ 50 years ago

Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.

Good morning. At a Cambridge bar on Saturday, I watched straight-seeming couples congregate by a television showing basketball, while a more queer-coded crowd lingered at another showing soccer. I don’t think that’s anything, really, but it was fun. 

This ‘never event’ is happening more frequently

A child born with congenital syphilis could suffer dire consequences: bone deformities, brain damage, blindness, deafness, and more. But that should be a ‘never event’ as public health officials say: A pregnant person can receive an injectable form of penicillin to prevent the infection. Somehow, rates keep going up anyway. Between 2012 and 2024, the U.S. saw an 800% increase in babies born with the disease. And since last year, there’s been a shortage of the drug.

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Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here.

Good morning. At a Cambridge bar on Saturday, I watched straight-seeming couples congregate by a television showing basketball, while a more queer-coded crowd lingered at another showing soccer. I don’t think that’s anything, really, but it was fun. 

This ‘never event’ is happening more frequently

A child born with congenital syphilis could suffer dire consequences: bone deformities, brain damage, blindness, deafness, and more. But that should be a ‘never event’ as public health officials say: A pregnant person can receive an injectable form of penicillin to prevent the infection. Somehow, rates keep going up anyway. Between 2012 and 2024, the U.S. saw an 800% increase in babies born with the disease. And since last year, there’s been a shortage of the drug.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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Sanofi wins type 1 diabetes nod for Tzield after requesting to revoke CNPV

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Sanofi makes no mention of the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher. Tzield was awarded the ticket in October 2025, but Sanofi requested withdrawal from the program after former CDER head Tracy Beth Høeg reportedly expressed skepticism of the drug.

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Rhythm’s obesity drug scores ‘better than expected’ weight loss in rare genetic disease

Rhythm’s obesity drug scores ‘better than expected’ weight loss in rare genetic disease

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Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’ Imcivree reduced fat—while boosting muscle—in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome.​ ​Read More

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