Machines Like Us

"Can we create new life out of our digital universe?" Craig Venter asks. His answer is "yes" -- and pretty soon. He walks through his latest research and promises that we’ll soon be able to build and boot up a synthetic chromosome.

In 2001, Craig Venter made headlines for sequencing the human genome. In 2003, he starting mapping the ocean's biodiversity. Now he's working to create the first synthetic lifeforms -- microorganisms that can produce alternative fuels. And he's very, very close.