Famed geneticist J. Craig Venter, who mapped the human genome and now heads a global effort to create "designer microbes" to address some of the world's most vexing global environmental and health problems, will keynote a symposium on the subject.

Venter's talk will be followed by a panel discussion on the far-reaching implications of synthetic biology, in which the tools of genetics are used to modify living organisms or even create new ones. Potential applications include new energy sources, improved pharmaceuticals and innovative ways to fight global warming by sequestering carbon.