A famous U.S. scientist told an audience at the Vogue Theatre last night that a person's entire genome can be mapped from a single sperm cell. And he expects the cost will fall below $1,000 within a fairly short period of time.

Genomics researcher J. Craig Venter offered other surprising revelations at his Vancouver lecture, which was hosted by the UBC-based Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.

For instance, he said that there are 450 to 550 chemicals in the bloodstream, of which only 60 percent are of human origin. Another 30 percent come from the diet, and 10 percent are "bacterial metabolytes".

"We don't know what these do," he said of the microbes. He suggested that they may be linked to some forms of cancer, including tumours in the esophagus.

Venter, who is most famous for mapping the human genome, revealed that there are four million microbial genes in the average person's oral cavity, and another four million in the intestinal tract.

In addition, there are two million microbial genes in the vaginal cavity.

Last year, the J. Craig Venter Institute published a paper demonstrating that it had successfully created a "synthetic self-replicating bacterial cell" with genetic material from a different bacterium. The creation of a synthetic cell caused the Obama administration to convene an ethics commission to study the implications.

In his talk last night, Venter described DNA as the equivalent of computer software.

"Change the software, and you change the species," he said.