Media Center

22-Dec-2020
Press Release

Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., Synthetic Biology Pioneer and Nobel Laureate, to Step Down from Daily Duties at J. Craig Venter Institute

Dr. Smith will maintain advisory role as professor emeritus

17-Dec-2020
Collaborator Release

Scientists set a path for field trials of gene drive organisms

As genetically engineered organisms ramp up, a multidisciplinary coalition offers a framework for ethical, socially engaged and transparent field practices

27-Oct-2020
Collaborator Release

Study reveals mouth as primary source of COVID-19 infection, spread

UNC-Chapel Hill, NIH identify sites in the oral cavity where coronavirus can take hold

18-Jun-2020
Press Release

Biology in Art: Genetic Detectives ID Microbes Suspected of Slowly Ruining Humanity’s Treasures

DNA science may help restore, preserve historic works, unmask counterfeits

The trait elite baseball hitters share with Leonardo da Vinci: A “quick eye” with higher “frames per second.” A function of training, genetics, or both?

26-May-2020
Press Release

Maintaining a Healthy Upper Respiratory Tract Microbiome May Help Prevent Secondary Infections in Influenza A Patients

An influenza-impacted upper respiratory tract microbiome may invite opportunistic bacterial pathogens

12-Mar-2020
Collaborator Release

LJI Scientists Identify Potential Targets for Immune Responses to Novel Coronavirus

The research, which includes comparative genomics analysis by JCVI scientists Yun Zhang and Richard Scheuermann, provides essential information about the human immune response to coronavirus infection that will guide the design and evaluation of diagnostics and vaccine candidates

03-Mar-2020
Collaborator Release

Presence of Staph Bacteria in Skin Microbiome Promotes Netherton Syndrome Inflammation

The research, which includes work by JCVI scientists Drishti Kaul and Christopher Dupont, provides one of the most detailed genomic descriptions to date of the skin microbiome

19-Feb-2020
Collaborator Release

Bacteria on the International Space Station no more dangerous than earthbound strains

Microbes that likely colonized the water dispenser before takeoff are still susceptible to antibiotics

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Out onto the ice

It took an enormous amount of effort, but on Thursday we ventured out onto the sea ice with our train of sleds and snow machines. The tucker is our strongest (and slowest) vehicle, and it is pulling both our yellow research sled and a pair of snowmobiles. The red Pisten-Bully is pulling a...

Around Mac-town

We are now fully packed and our mobile research sled is ready to go. We are waiting for some final repairs on the Pisten-Bully which will pull our supply sled. The mobile laboratory sled will be pulled by the Sno-Cat Tucker, which also has cab space for six (riding in the mobile lab would...

Ice diatoms!

Today has been a day of preparations, as tomorrow we hope to leave McMurdo Station and head out on the sea ice. Our mobile sled is almost ready for deployment: the carpenters who work for the US Antarctic Program are quite amazing, and our sled has filtration racks for separating different...

Sea-ice class

Today Abigail Noble and I took a Hagglund transporter out onto the Ross Sea to learn the basics of sea ice safety and ice dynamics. The sea ice on McMurdo Sound can be 2 meters thick, but this ice is constantly changing, and when you drive along its surface, you can't assume that it is...

Happy Camp

Our project on the Ross Sea will take us far from heated facilities of McMurdo Station, so all members of our team need to attend "Happy Camp", a two day course on snow camping and basic Antarctic survival. Happy Camp is held out on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, and it is an immersion program in...

McMurdo Station

Entering McMurdo is like entering a modern mining town: lots of exposed rock and unpaved streets, above ground utilities and bare-bones architecture. Utilitarian. From the airport we were taken to a briefing room, introduced to our science coordinators, and given our shcedules. Since I am...

Transport to the ice

Wednesday morning started with a 5AM taxi ride to the US Antarctic Program's processing center at the Christchurch airport, where we had to repack our bags and put on our emergency cold weather gear for the flight. Our plane was the C-17 Globemaster III, a large military transport plane more...

Polynya opens in the Ross Sea

A helicopter pilot recently sent us an image of the area we are planning to sample, and the stable sea ice we intended to use as a platform for drilling and sampling is now a giant stretch of open seawater! A large opening like this is a polynya, a term borrowed from the Russian...

Christchurch, New Zealand

Greetings from Christchurch, New Zealand, the anteroom to Antarctica. My colleagues and I have been here for several days now, running last minute errands, getting equipped with cold weather gear, and waiting for a flight south to McMurdo Station. The flight here was remarkable only in it's...

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01-Jun-2021
The Scientist

Sailing the Seas in Search of Microbes

Projects aimed at collecting big data about the ocean’s tiniest life forms continue to expand our view of the seas.

13-Apr-2021
The Harvard Crimson

What the Public Should Not Know

J. Craig Venter, PhD, argues scientists have “a moral obligation to communicate what they're doing to the public,” and that more studies deserve greater public criticism.

29-Mar-2021
Science

Scientists coax cells with the world’s smallest genomes to reproduce normally

The discovery could sharpen scientists’ understanding of which functions are crucial for normal cells and what the many mysterious genes in these organisms are doing

23-Mar-2021
San Diego Union Tribune

San Diego arts, health, science and youth groups to share $71M from Prebys Foundation

The J. Craig Venter Institute is the recipient of three awards totaling more than $1.5M to study SARS-CoV-2 and heart disease

11-Feb-2021
Scientific American

Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of the First Publication of the Human Genome

A new wave of research is needed to make ample use of humanity’s “most wondrous map”

24-Dec-2020
The San Diego Union Tribune

Scientists rush to determine if mutant strain of coronavirus will deepen pandemic

U.S. researchers have been slow to perform the genetic sequencing that will help clarify the situation

19-Dec-2020
The San Diego Union-Tribune

After saving countless lives, Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith retires as his own health falters

He has been a fixture in San Diego science for decades

14-Dec-2020
Medscape

The 'Wondrous Map': Charting of the Human Genome, 20 Years Later

Twenty years ago, President Bill Clinton announced completion of what was arguably one of the greatest advances of the modern era: the first draft sequence of the human genome.

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