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...

Newly Discovered Human Brain Cell: Rosehip Neurons

What’s next for exploring the newly discovered human brain cell, the rose hip neuron? We caught up with Dr. Richard Scheuermann on the road to discuss how the J. Craig Venter Institute is advancing knowledge about what makes humans unique. See the full press release.

Ocean Sampling Day 2018

J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) scientists, led by Lisa Ziegler Allen, PhD, are collaborating with Kelly Goodwin, PhD (NOAA), Brian Palenik, PhD (UCSD), and Maitreyi Nagarkar (UCSD) to participate in this year’s Ocean Sampling Day on June 21. The team, which also includes Sarah Schwenck...

J. Craig Venter Institute Education Program Fosters Learning Opportunities with Salisbury University Students and Faculty

Patti Erickson, PhD first connected with the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in the Fall of 2016 as an associate professor at Salisbury University looking for opportunities to expose undergraduate students to biology outside of the classroom. Soon thereafter, she and a group from Salisbury...

JCVI Makes Strides in Microbial Analysis of Artwork which May Lead to Better Preservation

Through the da Vinci DNA Project, researchers at JCVI began taking samples from aging artwork with the aim of understanding which microbial species are present are present on each.

BioVision Alexandria 2018

The BioVision Alexandria conference convened at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in Alexandria, Egypt this past April. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a commemoration of the Ancient Library of Alexandria and an attempt to rekindle the global cultural and scholarship role of the library....

J. Craig Venter Institute Inspires Kids on “Take Your Child to Work Day”

Last month when my kindergarten-aged daughter brought home a note from school to dress up as their future career choice, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from her that she aspired to be a scientist just like me. So, we dug through my clothes and found her an old lab coat and decorated the...

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

Genetically modified bacteria-killing viruses used on patient for first time