J. Craig Venter, the genomics pioneer who helped lead the private sequencing effort for the human genome and later founded and built biotech companies including the J. Craig Venter Institute, died at 79 following side effects from cancer treatment. Venter’s work reshaped modern genomics and accelerated synthetic biology by pushing faster data generation and commercialization pathways. The passing marks the end of an era for the individual most associated with “sequencing-first” ambitions and a builder’s approach to turning biological information into new platforms and products.