Sequencing of high yield influenza reassortants at JCVI

As part of the Influenza Genome Sequencing Project, JCVI will be sequencing a large number of high yield influenza reassortants created in the lab of Dr. Doris Bucher at New York Medical College. Dr. Bucher’s lab has prepared the type A H3N2 high yield reassortants  (hyrs) for the...

What Happened to Sorcerer II?!?!

The last time I wrote a Sorcerer II blog was in November when we set sail from Spain to cross the Atlantic Ocean. For all of you that have been worried that we have been at sea for 8 months, relax we made it!! Over the next few days I will update everyone on what has happened and the upcoming...

Podcast on Human Genomics

The 2011 Festival of Ideas themed, The Pursuit of Identity, Landscape, History, and Genetics, is held every other year in Melbourne, Australia to inspire scholars and citizens alike in topics ranging from literature and art to science and foreign policy.  JCVI Professor of Genomic...

Summit on Systems Biology, June 15-17, 2011

I attended the Summit on Systems Biology hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA June 15-17.  So, judging from the talks given, what is systems biology? Systems biology is non-linear and/or multi-step.  Heavy math does not make something systems biology if...

Insights gained from influenza genomic sequence data: viral diversity within human populations

The advent of large amounts of influenza genomic sequence data produced by the Influenza Genome Sequencing Project (IGSP) has led to new concepts regarding influenza viral diversity.  It was previously believed that a single influenza lineage entered a human population at the start of an...

NASA and JCVI host symposium on the evolution of Earth and Life

On May 12th and 13th, the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego will be hosting a NASA Astrobiology Institute-funded symposium titled “Paleobiology in the genomics era.” Paleobiology is the study of the origins and evolution of life and, by nature, is interdisciplinary. The goal is to...

JCVI Supports Human Mircrobiome Body Site Experts with Shotgun Data Analysis

Members of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Consortium (see http://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp and http://www.hmpdacc.org for more information on the project and partners) including human microbiome body site experts gathered for a virtual Jamboree January 19th. The fully online-based Jamboree...

The Microbiome of Esophageal Cancer

In anticipation of the International Human Microbiome Congress, our group has diligently worked to generate data to present for our HMP demo project studying the microbiome of patients who have developed esophageal cancer, gastrointestinal reflux disease, and barrett’s esophagus.  We...

A Look Back at 2010 at the JCVI…

As the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) soars into its 19th year, we reflect on the past year of highlights and accomplishments to mark the close 2010 and look forward to more significant scientific advances in 2011. JCVI Top 10 of 2010 ... 1. First Synthetic Cell: Fifteen years in the...

Scientists in La Jolla Make Progress Understanding New Coronavirus Strain

Gene Drives: New and Improved

As the science advances, policy-makers and regulators need to develop responses that reflect the latest developments and the diversity of approaches and applications.

Pink shoes and a lab jacket: Finding your way as a female scientist

Women in science tell high school girls they, too, can change the world

PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Jazz piano in La Jolla scientist Clyde Hutchison’s DNA

How AI can help us decode immunity

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the keys to unraveling how the human immune system prevents and controls disease

Construction of an Escherichia coli genome with fewer codons sets records

The biggest synthetic genome so far has been made, with a smaller set of amino-acid-encoding codons than usual — raising the prospect of encoding proteins that contain unnatural amino-acid residues.

Public Health is the Next Big Thing at UC San Diego

Researchers have swapped the genome of gut germ E. coli for an artificial one

By creating a new genome, scientists could create organisms tailored to produce desirable compounds