Meet Science's Biggest Ego

The journey to the first synthetic creation of life began 40 years ago, when researcher Craig Venter found himself in the middle of the ocean being circled by a shark. Venter, who announced in Science magazine last week that his research team had “created life” by inserting a computer-generated genome into a cell, began his career as a medic with the U.S. army in Vietnam. Unable to save hundreds of men from dying, he nearly took his own life by swimming into the South China Sea in a "black pit of depression." But the circling shark shook his suicidal notions away and he returned with newfound purpose. “A doctor can save maybe a few hundred lives in a lifetime,” Venter said. "A researcher can save the whole world.” Thus began his scientific journey, first as part of the 15-year Human Genome Project and now with his latest breakthrough. While some have dubbed him a modern-day Galileo or Einstein, others have called him “a bit of a prick.” Whichever it is, at least he's making headlines.