Media Center

25-Mar-2021
Collaborator Release

Scientists find evidence that novel coronavirus infects the mouth’s cells

NIH-funded findings point to a role for saliva in SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

18-Mar-2021
Press Release

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

25-Feb-2021
Press Release

J. Craig Venter Institute Scientists to Investigate Role of Opioid Abuse in HIV and HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders Pathogenesis through $4.7M NIDA Grant

Study aims to identify candidate molecules to regulate HIV infection in the central nervous system in patients abusing opioids

27-Jan-2021
Press Release

Influenza A Virus Discovered in Heart Muscle Tissue Causing Damage Long After It Has Cleared from the Lungs

Strategies to inhibit necrotic cell death or to prevent mitochondrial damage should be pursued as possible therapies to reduce cardiac damage during influenza infections

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?

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North Atlantic Transit

After four days in Bermuda reconnecting with colleagues at BIOS and preparing for sampling across the North Atlantic, Sorcerer II departed on April 29th enroute to the port of Horta located on the island of Faial in the Azores.  There are nine islands in the Azores archipelago which is...

Bermuda: Back to Where We Started

Sorcerer II arrived in Bermuda around 7 p.m. on Saturday April 25th after a five day, 1,000 mile sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the crossing, the crew experienced some challenging weather to say the least.  Two samples were collected, and the CTD data confirmed what the J....

The Search for Environmental “Gems” Continues

As an original crew member of the Sorcerer II circumnavigation that began in 2003, I had not been sailing/sampling on the boat since September 2007. I arrived in Florida with a mixture of emotions. Although life on board can be tedious, I was excited to return and embark on this next leg of...

Back on Land

We arrive in Ft. Lauderdale and are all glad to be back on land for a few days. But we were also elated by the success of the first part of the expedition. This first journey was difficult because we had to deploy and test new equipment, to sample a diverse array of environments and...

Through the Canal

We are now out in the warm and saline Caribbean Sea, and the waters are an intense blue. The waters are so blue, there is very little in them: we drop the CTD and barely get 0.25 micrograms of Chlorophyll per liter all the way to the 50 meter mark. The clear waters of the Caribbean are very...

Miraflores Locks

We passed through the gigantic Miraflores locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal this morning, and now we are in front of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Station on Lake Gatun. The Sorcerer has sampled here on two other occasions, so to continue our time course evaluation, we ready the...

Going Green to Blue

As we round the southern most point on our trip we notice that the water has gone from blue to green, and that there appear to be surface current and eddies in the water. We decide to stop and have a look with the CTD. As we lower the instrument from the aft cockpit, we encounter a layer of...

Costa Rican Dome

In Nicaraguan waters is a regular spring upwelling event sometimes referred to as the Costa Rican dome. Winds blow across the Central American Isthmus near Lake Nicaragua and contribute to an upwelling of nutrient rich waters. These nutrients enable phytoplankton to grow, and as we approach the...

Gulf of Tehuantepec

We spend the day transiting the famously capricious Gulf of Tehuantepec, but today winds were calm, and we were able to cut across the bay in good time. At the southern end of the gulf is an underwater seamount, so we maneuver the Sorcerer over the seamount in hopes of encountering an...

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17-Jan-2024
Grow by Ginkgo

Getting Under the Skin

Amid an insulin crisis, one project aims to engineer microscopic insulin pumps out of a skin bacterium.

24-Oct-2023
Noema

Planet Microbe

There are more organisms in the sea, a vital producer of oxygen on Earth, than planets and stars in the universe.

29-Aug-2023
Vanity Fair

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.

21-Aug-2023
GEN

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.”

09-Aug-2023
Quanta Magazine

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.

15-May-2023
Science

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

10-May-2023
New York Times

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.

10-May-2023
Nature

First human ‘pangenome’ aims to catalogue genetic diversity

Researchers release draft results from an ongoing effort to capture the entirety of human genetic variation.

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