Craig Venter is one of the leading scientists of our time who has made enormous contributions to the development of genomics. In February 2001, Venter published the fully sequenced human genome. His wonderful memoirs are an honest, frank story about his life, which included a poor childhood, the war in Vietnam, and communication with outstanding scientists who taught him to love science and honestly serve it. “Life Decoded” is also a story about how discoveries are made today and how difficult it is for those who try to champion the new.