Craig Venter and the F word.

More on the world-sailing, metagenomic doing Dr J Craig Venter on respectable BBC news and current affairs programme Newsnight here. The man - through his Institute - is doing some interesting things, things that could be used as the definition of 'pushing the boundaries'. The media reaction highlights the need for a scientifically literate population, one of the things we want to help with our public outreach work on the replica HMS Beagle.

Any interviewer who uses the word 'Frankenstein' in relation to such work should be ashamed of themselves for barrelscraping cliché, sloppy thinking and lazy journalism. It's as relevant as calling it Dumbledore science because it's like magic.

Anyway, Baron von Dr. Venter is in the UK promoting his autobiography, reviewed in The Times here. No link to Amazon, support your local bookshop.