Pioneering geneticist J. Craig Venter has died at the age of 79, according to his namesake research institute. K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/Getty Images J. Craig Venter, a scientist who played a critical role in the sequencing of the human genome, has died at the age of 79, according to his namesake research institute. Venter’s company, Celera Genomics, famously began a scientific race, trying to completely sequence the human genetic code before the government-funded Human Genome Project achieved the same feat. He pioneered new, cheaper, faster approaches such as the “whole genome shotgun method” that critics initially said wouldn’t work. In a 2003 interview with NPR, when Venter was asked about how he felt about being often called a scientific “maverick,” he said that it “depends on how it’s meant by most people, but in the context of stodgy science, I consider it a tremendous badge of honor.” Maverick or no, Venter’s successes and provocations made him a scientific superstar. In 2000, when scientists gathered …