In the second caption: "Each cell of JCVI-syn3.0 contains just 473 genes, fewer than any other independent organism."
In the main text: "In a 1995 Science paper, Venter’s team sequenced the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium, a sexually transmitted microbe with the smallest genome of any known free-living organism, and mapped its 470 genes."
Which is it? Venter would have seemed to disproven his own claim to novelty, unless we've found new genes in M. genitalium's genome since 1995.
Edit: As with most biological terms, part of the problem is the fuzziness of the definition of "gene". More recent studies claim M. genitalium has 525 genes [1], but that might be including tRNA and ncRNA regions. I'd still object to the article's poor editing. Also, let's get down to brass tacks here: we've only trimmed a 580kb genome down to 531kb (9% reduction). Clearly, life is already pretty damn efficient.