J. Craig Venter, who mapped the first draft of the human genome and helped scientists understand how genes shape our lives, died on Wednesday (April 30, 2026). He was 79.

Venter’s death was announced by the J. Craig Venter Institute, a genomics research group with locations in La Jolla, California, and Rockville, Maryland. The institute said he died in San Diego after being hospitalised for side effects from a recent cancer treatment.