Awesome future of biology

I came across impressive presentations and interviews on biology.

1. “Joining 3.5 Billion Years of Microbial Invention” by Craig Venter
   MP3 file is here.
2. “On the verge of creating synthetic life” by Craig Venter
   You can download the video to iTunes and the MPEG 4 file on the page.
3. “Fighting Virulent Bacteria” on Bio Tech Nation
   MP3 file is here.

Presentation one and two above are similar, but one is more comprehensive while with two you can see slides which help understand the content. So I'd recommend to listen/watch in that order. Both tell that genetic information from newly found micro organisms is mounting at a very rapid pace and no no sign of slowing down. And designing and synthesizing life is becoming reality.

There is a bacteria which makes octane (an ingredient of gasoline) from carbon dioxide and sunlight -- photosynthesis is not the only way for life to materialize sunlight energy. Vender's research team is working on engineering such bacteria so that it does that efficiently.

Interview three above says that a person has 10 times more non human cells than human cells -- we have a huge number of bacteria mainly in gastrointestinal tract. Bioscience now understands the importance of those bacterias. Human being depends on them while they don't.