Hearing about Craig Venter's ambitions evokes certain emotions: hope, fear, or some combination of both.

Venter, the biologist who is best known for mapping the human genome, spoke this morning about his newest project, the synthetic genome. He sat down later with Conde Nast Portfolio deputy editor Blaise Zerega to help a small audience better understand his work and its implications.

At its most basic level, the goal of Venter's research is to create a designer chromosome that could then be combined with certain genes to become a new, living, custom-made microorganism. This microorganism could potentially be used as an alternative energy source, or as a vaccine to specific diseases. In an ideal world, it would solve problems in both the environmental and pharmaceutical industries.

By combining synthetic cells with the gene sets of organisms in the ocean that naturally produce carbon chemicals, an energy company could create an alternative to oil. "We have a very modest goal, which is to replace the entire petrochemical industry," Venter said, only half-jokingly.

Venter, through his company called Synthetic Genomics, is already having an active dialogue with the oil industry about these efforts. He hopes to start the first field test using the carbon in a coalmine with these synthetic cells later this year or early next.

Like a lot of Venter's research over time, the synthetic genome does not come without its share of controversy. The fear, of course, is how this technology--creating life from synthetic materials--could be misused. Could it be used for biological warfare, making it easier for groups to weaponize deadly viruses?

Venter concedes that these are rational fears, but he passionately discounts them. Overcoming them is a matter of understanding the science and controls in place to keep these organisms from entering the environment.

"All technology has dual purposes," he said. "Any technology can be used for good or evil purposes." He points out that biologists have been using deadly viruses inside of laboratories for decades, but controls keep them from escaping and surviving out in the world.

Moreover, he says, none of this is new. People have become comfortable with the cross breeding of plants and animals, so why be so fearful when the breeding and selection is based on knowledge?

If we can overcome our fears, and the synthetic genomics technology actually works to create an alternative fuel or a cancer vaccine, the question is how will it be applied?

Venter says he doesn't plan to partner with any individual company, and instead will merely make the methodology public. "I'm not sure anyone needs to make money on it," he said.

Of course, convincing the energy and pharmaceutical industries to adopt this disruptive technology might be nearly as daunting a project. At Davos earlier this year, Venter was discouraged and disappointed by the pessimism he encountered from the business community. Few C.E.O.s believe that anything substantial will change in energy production in the next 40 years.

Perhaps they find the whole concept so unsettling and implausible it simply isn't digestible.

Venter seems to understand this on some level. Indeed, when TED's Chris Anderson asked Venter how it feels to be playing God, the scientist didn't skip a beat. "We aren't playing."

by Megan Barnett