I went to see Chris Anderson from Wired interview Craig Venter.

Interesting - on a bunch of levels. First of all, I'm fascinated by the fact that I knew so little about Venter. Chris introduced him as the greatest living scientist... and a I sat up in my chair. I'd known he was the man behind the sequencing of the human genome. And I'd known he'd gotten into a wrestling match with the government over who would do it first. But that's about it.

First - a few headlines. The very first sequence was completed just 10 years ago - so this is all brand new science.

Second - Venter made the point that big science is slow... and that big leaps tend to put everyone's nose out of joint. I hadn't thought about it - but it makes sense.

and Third - that the complex questions about who owns genomics data was pushed to the fore by a government edict that NIH had to patent every discovery before it was published.

Venter is now embarking on two new projects, sequencing the seas, and sequencing the air. (he's collecting samples from a 40 story building in Manhattan - but wouldn't say which one).

this is his new non-profit research foundation

Overall - i found the complexity of his work staggering in it's importance, and equally staggering in how little coverage there has been about its potential impact. (yes, lots on his 'controversies' - they make good copy).

And then finally - back to media (the place I come from). I couldn't help but think about Anderson's Long Tail thesis, and the fact that this conversation was going on without any media capture devices recording it. If Venter will be looked back on as the father of genomics - and his musings about the challenges of getting the human genome sequenced will be of historic significance to medicine, science, energy, and the environment - then what is the long tail value of this kind of material.

I think it's significant - perhaps priceless. Since you can only suppose in the middle of a scientists career how history will treat him in retrospect. What would the value of conversations with Einstein be? Alexander Graham Bell? Louis Pasteur?

In a question and answer session after the talk, someone from the audience asked how Venter felt about the current state of High School Biology Education. He answered that his greatest concern was that recent polls suggest that 60% of American's don't believe in Evolution. He saw that as the ultimate expression of our willingness to ignore science.