Craig Venter has the most exciting resume among contemporary researchers, having been a California bad boy and beach bum after his traumatic Vietnam War service, then a leader in decoding the human genome, and most recently, a maker of synthetic microbes in his laboratory. Venter has a soft spot for the Financial Times (FT) because we have always treated him fairly and we named him Man of the Year 2000. As a result, Venter spent some of his time recently with FT while he was on a short trip to London to launch his lively autobiography titled 'A Life Decoded.' The six billion chemical letters of Venters personal genome have been decoded and evaluated in more detail than the DNA of anyone else in the world. The analysis reveals that Venter carries various genes that enhance his risk of developing heart disease and late-onset diabetes, but his genetic analysis does not alter how Venter eats. Venter believes that scientists and journalists have exaggerated the benefits and impact of new genetic knowledge, for which he blames his competitors in the public human genome project, who were funded primarily by the U.S. government and Britains Wellcome Trust. Venter downplays the significance of the human genome project, and says that you cannot read the human genome right now. Writing his autobiography was a very emotional and cathartic experience for Venter. Readers of his autobiography might think Venter is not fond of the UK, but he protests his affection for Britain. Everyone should be thankful for the efforts of Venter, who believes that people should be open about their DNA. Whether his motivation is altruism or egotism, Venter is a symbol of the all-action scientist who is unafraid of discussing controversial issues with people.