Rocky Giarratano

"This is the first synthetic species,” microbiologist J. Craig Venter told 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft in 2010. His team of scientists created a synthetic bacteria designed on a computer, with man-made DNA. Venter says that from concept to completion, it took 15 years and $40 million to make. Venter, who died this week at 79, was one of the most famous scientists in the world, known for his pioneering work in deciphering the human genetic code.

The cost of sequencing a human genome dropped from $100M to less than $100 in about 25 years. That's a million-fold decrease, which outpaces even Moore's Law. We're about to enter the era of personalized medicine.

Introducing ChatGPT for Clinicians:

When I taught students in the sciences, I often told them to unlearn much of the writing they’d been taught in humanities courses since high school. That style is built to signal erudition - flaunting obscure vocabulary, esoteric Latin phrases, and unusual word orders to make the writer sound impressive. Scientific communication is the opposite. It demands clarity of thought, precision, and rigorous meaning. The two styles couldn’t be more different. Fortunately, smart students usually adapt quickly once they realize that good science writing is about being understood, not performing sophistication.