Hear scientist J. Craig Venter, and TV writers and producers David Guarascio, Moses Port, and Sameer Gardezi, on this edition of Fresh Air.

Craig Venter has been working to decode the human genome, and has published an autobiography called A Life Decoded: My Genome - My Life. Venter has also just published his own genetic code. It's the first time a diploid genome from one individual has been made public. Venter's work has sparked controversy over the years. For a long time, he ran a privately funded parallel version of the Human Genome Project through the company Celera Genomics, with the intention of using the information for profit. Venter founded The Institute for Genomic Research in 1992, and he is the president of the J. Craig Venter Institute. Venter is working on creating artificial life, now that he has unlocked the genetic code.

Then, Aliens in America TV writers/producers David Guarascio and Moses Port, who are co-creators and exec producers, and Sameer Gardezi, who is a writer for that new sitcom, which airs Monday nights on the CW network. It's about a Midwestern family that takes in a Pakistani Muslim exchange student. Guarascio and Port also worked together on the sitcoms Just Shoot Me and Mad About You. [Broadcast Date: November 5, 2007]