Media Center
Artificial cells demonstrate that “life finds a way”
Family resemblance: How T cells could fight many coronaviruses at once
LJI researchers work to head off future pandemics by uncovering key similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and common cold coronaviruses
Scientists aim to develop vaccine against all deadly coronaviruses
$8 million NIH grant supports effort to avert next pandemic
What are the Drivers of Chronic Infectious Disease?
A $1 million grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation will launch a UC San Diego-led national effort to more deeply study tissue samples from patients with conditions ranging from long COVID-19 and relapsed Lyme disease to chronic fatigue syndrome
The Tissue Analysis Pipeline will be directed by scientists at UC San Diego and the J. Craig Venter Institute
BullFrog AI Partners with J. Craig Venter Institute to Develop Colorectal Cancer Therapeutic
Collaboration seeks to develop an oncolytic virus that incorporates a novel, precision-targeted approach to improve safety and efficacy
JCVI Associate Professor Marcelo Freire elected to the 2022 class of AAAS Fellows
More Than 500 Scientists and Engineers Bestowed Lifetime AAAS Fellows Honor
Therapeutic Potential of Bizarre ‘Jumbo’ Viruses Tapped for $10M HHMI Emerging Pathogens Project
UC San Diego leads initiative aiming to develop bacteriophages as solutions for antibiotic resistance crisis
HHMI’s Emerging Pathogens Initiative Aims for Scientific Head Start on Future Epidemics
Synthetic genomics advances and promise
Advances in DNA synthesis will enable extraordinary new opportunities in medicine, industry, agriculture, and research
Pages
Media Contact
Related
Scientist Spotlight: Todd Michael
A love of science began for Todd Michael, PhD when his 7th grade teacher had him write a report on tree leaves. After collecting different leaves and looking up their tree type, he realized that although all of the trees were similar, they grew different types of leaves. He was certain there...
Fighting Back Against Flu
The 1918 influenza pandemic, which affected 500 million people globally and caused 50-100 million deaths, was the most severe pandemic in recorded history. Over the course of the last 100 years, advances in science and medicine have provided the tools to address influenza much more...
Scientist Spotlight: Marcelo Freire
Marcelo Freire, an associate professor in the Genomic Medicine and Infectious Disease Department at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), is currently working on decoding immune-microbiome genes and interactions. Growing up in Brazil and a curious person by nature, he often found himself...
Tracking Enterovirus D68, Cause of a Polio-like Illness in Some Patients
The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) has played a vital role in defining the diversity of contemporary strains of human enteroviruses by using state-of-the art sequencing technologies, bioinformatics analyses, and in vitro and in vivo modeling.
Every Day is World Food Day at JCVI
World Food Day is a global initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to ensure that people have access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy lives. After a period of decline, world hunger is on the rise again. Today, over 820 million people...
Mold Is Everywhere and Impacts You
When most people think about mold or fungi, food spoilage, a damp basement, or mushrooms come to mind. What you may not realize is how pervasive this branch of life is. Fungi is everywhere, from the ground you walk on to the air you breathe, and accounts for an estimated 25% of all biomass...
Scientists Discover Genetic Basis for Toxic Algal Blooms
Scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have discovered how certain types of algal blooms become toxic, producing a harmful substance known as domoic acid. Microscopic view of domoic acid...
Ocean Microplastics Explained
As we wrap up sampling in the waters off of Maine, Dr. Chris Dupont discusses how collections of plastic particles in the water – or “plastisphere” – may be harboring fish or human pathogens. There may also be microbes responsible for degrading plastic, which are being investigated....
JCVI Team Awarded Two Grants Under the NSF’s “Understanding the Rules of Life” Initiative
The first award, led by John Glass, PhD, for $1M, is focused on “Building and Modeling Synthetic Bacterial Cells.” The second award, led by Zaida Luthey-Schulten, PhD, at the University of Illinois, also for $1M, is titled “Balancing the Demands of a Minimal Cell,” and is focused on...
Dr. Venter at Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series
Dr. Craig Venter was a guest speaker at the Whaling Museum in partnership with Nantucket Community Sailing as part of the Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series. Dr. Venter's lecture was titled, "Oceans, Human Health and the Genomic Future" discussing the Global Ocean...
Pages
Can CRISPR help stop African Swine Fever?
Gene editing could create a successful vaccine to protect against the viral disease that has killed close to 2 million pigs globally since 2021.
Getting Under the Skin
Amid an insulin crisis, one project aims to engineer microscopic insulin pumps out of a skin bacterium.
Planet Microbe
There are more organisms in the sea, a vital producer of oxygen on Earth, than planets and stars in the universe.
The Next Climate Change Calamity?: We’re Ruining the Microbiome, According to Human-Genome-Pioneer Craig Venter
In a new book (coauthored with Venter), a Vanity Fair contributor presents the oceanic evidence that human activity is altering the fabric of life on a microscopic scale.
Lessons from the Minimal Cell
“Despite reducing the sequence space of possible trajectories, we conclude that streamlining does not constrain fitness evolution and diversification of populations over time. Genome minimization may even create opportunities for evolutionary exploitation of essential genes, which are commonly observed to evolve more slowly.”
Even Synthetic Life Forms With a Tiny Genome Can Evolve
By watching “minimal” cells regain the fitness they lost, researchers are testing whether a genome can be too simple to evolve.
Privacy concerns sparked by human DNA accidentally collected in studies of other species
Two research teams warn that human genomic “bycatch” can reveal private information
Scientists Unveil a More Diverse Human Genome
The “pangenome,” which collated genetic sequences from 47 people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, could greatly expand the reach of personalized medicine.
First human ‘pangenome’ aims to catalogue genetic diversity
Researchers release draft results from an ongoing effort to capture the entirety of human genetic variation.
Pages
Logos
The JCVI logo is presented in two formats: stacked and inline. Both are acceptable, with no preference towards either. Any use of the J. Craig Venter Institute logo or name must be cleared through the JCVI Marketing and Communications team. Please submit requests to info@jcvi.org.
To download, choose a version below, right-click, and select “save link as” or similar.
Images
Following are images of our facilities, research areas, and staff for use in news media, education, and noncommercial applications, given attribution noted with each image. If you require something that is not provided or would like to use the image in a commercial application please reach out to the JCVI Marketing and Communications team at info@jcvi.org.