Environmental Sustainability
Now more than ever our environment is at risk because of increasing population and climate change. Ocean microplastics and nitrogen runoff from fertilizer are wreaking ecologic havoc. JCVI is using DNA sequencing and analysis along with synthetic biology techniques to harness microbes for uses such as plastic degradation and sustainable agriculture. We also continue to monitor, analyze and better understand the microbes inhabiting the global oceans to develop new improved biofuels and monitor the health of this important asset.
Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS)
J. Craig Venter Institute awarded 5-year, $5M grant to lead Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy (CIRCLE)
CIRCLE is one of the six new NSF Global Centers focused on advancing bioeconomy research to solve global challenges
Scientists discover molecular predictors of toxic algal blooms that pose health risk, ecological and economic harm
Genes in the algae Pseudo-nitzschia genus have been identified that act as a warning beacon for a dangerous neurotoxin
Phytoplankton Genetically Sequenced at Sea for the First Time
Viking’s Initiative with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and J. Craig Venter Institute Aims to Provide Better Understanding of the “World’s Lungs”
Tae Seok Moon, Ph.D. and Nan Zhu, Ph.D. join J. Craig Venter Institute faculty
JCVI continues to actively recruit faculty to expand core research areas, including human health and synthetic biology
Opentrons Announces New Robotics Education Initiative Demonstrating Commitment to Laboratory Automation for Students
Coastal upwelling regions threatened by increased ocean acidification
Increased acidification shown to limit iron availability, a critical element for the survival of phytoplankton, the foundation of the oceanic food web
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.
Leg 2: exploring the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center
Hunting for deep-ocean plastics
Through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Deep Submergence Facility, JCVI's Erin Garza, Ph.D. joins a deep sea expedition to search for ocean plastics aboard the HOV Alvin.
Leg 1: headed to an unexplored area of the Puerto Rico Trench
Scientists announce comprehensive regional diagnostic of microbial ocean life using DNA testing
Large-scale ‘metabarcoding’ methods could revolutionize how society understands forces that drive seafood supply, planet’s ability to remove greenhouse gases
Climate change and iron availability may drastically alter algae blooms in the Southern Ocean, trapping vast nutrients
Shifts in diatom population may have profound effects on global nutrient distribution and carbon cycling
Scientists map how iron, a critical mineral for survival, is processed by algae, a cornerstone of the ocean food web
Nearly forty proteins identified in the intracellular process, helping to build a conceptual overview of how iron is allocated within diatom cells
JCVI Researchers Help Advance Our Understanding of Ocean Microbes, Developing New Tools and Protocols Through Large-Scale Study
Diatoms Have Found a Way to Pirate Bacterial Iron Sources, JCVI Scientists use CRISPR Technology to Discover How
Domoic Acid Decoded: Scientists Discover Genetic Basis for How Harmful Algal Blooms Become Toxic
Research into gene function in microalgae helps determine how toxins are made in oceanic harmful algal blooms
Scientists Discover Genetic Basis for Toxic Algal Blooms
Ocean Microplastics Explained
Dr. Venter at Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series
Research Schooner Tara in San Diego Calls for Innovative Citizen Science and Oceanography 2.0
For in-depth evaluation of ocean health, biodiversity, and evolution
Ocean Sampling Day 2018
Researchers identify bacteria and viruses ejected from the ocean
Certain types of bacteria and viruses are readily ejected into the atmosphere when waves break while others less likely to be transported into the air
J. Craig Venter Institute Makes Strides in Microbial Analysis of Artwork which May Lead to Better Preservation Techniques
BioVision Alexandria 2018
Key Biological Mechanism is Disrupted by Ocean Acidification
Inability of phytoplankton to acquire iron imperils marine ecosystems
Medicago truncatula Genome Database
Medicago truncatula is a research model to study the process of nitrogen fixation, the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to plant proteins.
Willow as a Potential Bioenergy Crop
Shrub willow, a close relative to weeping willow, is a short-rotation woody crop that can produce large amounts of renewable biomass and is a potential bioenergy crop.