Craig Venter is unquestionably one of the most brilliant and controversial characters in the world of genetics. Known by many as the 'Bad Boy of Science', he famously raced an international team of publicly funded researchers to sequence the human genome. Last month, he unveiled his own six-billion letter DNA sequence. In this week's Science Weekly, we hear exclusively about whether he had any fears mapping his own genetic code - and getting a glimpse into his own future. You can hear the rest of the interview as this week's Science Extra - and over the rest of this month, we'll be podcasting more of Ed Pilkington's intimate and insightful conversations with Venter.
Also in the show, Mark Buchanan explains the study of social physics - the application of mathematical and scientific principles to the study of human behaviour. Find out more by heading to Mark's blog, or reading his new book, 'The Social Atom'.
We round off the programme by discussing the so-called gay bomb, jetlagged hamsters, sword swallowing, and the science of crumpled sheets. Why? Because they've all been recognised at the IgNobel awards for 2007. This provides much of the light relief in the show...
Joining Alok Jha, James Randerson and Ben Green in the studio this week was Hazel Morris (and her sister, actually) - the winner of our Facebook 500 competition. If you'd like to join up, head to group page, where you can post a comment on the Wall. And for more discussions, head to the Science Blog.
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