Well, the best con artist would be the one who convinced you he/she is legit, but Craig Venter has a few accomplishments under his belt…

I’m worried about posting URLs so I’d ask that you merely google “Mycoplasma laboratorium” and or “GLIMMER” and “MUMmer”

“Mycoplasma laboratorium” is the name of a synthetic organism they hope to create. The proof of concept would mean that you’ve reached a level of finesse such that customization of metabolism is possible.

I do wonder why its a “non-profit” organization that is developing them. Is that a conventional path to bring something to market?