Understanding Complex Data through Better Visualization

Recently, researchers at JCVI reported on the Rhizoctonia solani mitochondrial genome which was the largest fungal mitochondrion to be sequenced to date. We showed that its unusually large size was probably due to the expansion of multiple genetic elements that populated the genome in somewhat...

JCVI Research Impact

JCVI ranks in the top 1% of research institutions worldwide for research impact based on an analysis of Elsevier and Thomson Reuters data. The ranking was done by looking at institutional publication reach as seen through the number of citations referencing them....

Trapping Microbes 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle

About 1% of all microbes are “culturable” in the lab. They are some of the most stubborn organisms requiring special and specific nutrients as well as optimal temperatures and conditions. So, how do we get the “unculturables” to be “culturable”? We make bacteria “traps”,...

Thule, Greenland Year Two

Sequence data from the previous year allowed us to determine the overall microbial population in each site and this year we decided to focus on the Rich Lake site which seem to have representation of nearly all microbes found in the other sites. So lucky for us we only had to work on one...

Scientist Spotlight: Meet Sarah Highlander

Sarah Highlander PhD is an esteemed scientist and professor who joined JCVI in La Jolla this year. She comes from a long line of academically successful Professors, including a great uncle who was a University Dean. As a young child, Sarah was influenced by her parents: her mother was...

Professional Development Opportunities this Summer

This summer we are offering two professional development workshops: GenomeSolver and Bioinformatics: Unlocking Life through Computation.  Both explore bioinformatics, microbial diversity and the implementation in the undergradauate or high school classrooms.  The GenomeSolver...

JCVI Hosts South African Scientists to Share Microbiome Research Techniques

Two scientists from the University of Cape Town, South Africa have joined Dr. Bill Nierman’s lab for the next month as part of NIH’s Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Initiative, a training program designed to build out technical biological skills in the African research...

Building the World's First Net-Zero Energy Lab [video]

Building the World's First Net-Zero Energy Lab And see the construction in time-lapes.

Amazon Expedition

Yesterday, JCVI expedition scientist Jeff Hoffman embarked from Manaus on a sampling expedition of the Amazon River and its tributaries, which contains 1/5th of the Earth’s river flow. In collaboration with scientists Dr. Guilherme Oliviera and Dr. Sara Cuadros from the Centro de Excelencia...

Dr. Hend Alqaderi on paving the way for women in science in the GCC

Hend Alqaderi, a JCVI collaborator and mentee to Marcelo Freire receives the L’Oréal-Unesco Women in Science award

Leonardo Da Vinci: New family tree spans 21 generations, 690 years, finds 14 living male descendants

The surprising results of a decade-long investigation by Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato provide a strong basis for advancing a project researching Leonardo da Vinci's DNA.

Genome Research Papers on Meningococcal Recombination, Psoriasis Variants in China, More

S. pneumoniae sticks to dying lung cells, worsening secondary infection following flu

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.

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.

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

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