Building a Solid Foundation

The JCVI La Jolla construction site has been busy since earthwork began in 2011. After grading the site to specified levels, a detailed excavation began to make room for the structural concrete footings, supporting slabs, and underground utilities. With all of the holes in just the right place,...

JCVI Viral Finishing Pipeline: a Winning Combination of Advanced Sequencing Technologies, Software Development and Automated Data Processing

JCVI viral projects are supported by the NIAID Genomic Sequencing Center for Infectious Disease (GSCID). The viral sequencing and finishing pipeline at JCVI combines next generation sequencing technologies with automated data processing. This allowed us to complete over 1,800 viral genomes in the...

Biowalk of Fame

There is a new “Biowalk of Fame” in Maryland, and our own Craig Venter was one of the first honorees receiving a plaque, which is there for all to see as you stroll through lovely Silver Spring. Other honorees include Dr. Martin Rodbell and Ben Carson. The event to honor the awardees...

Moving dirt at JCVI La Jolla

After celebrating the ground breaking of JCVI La Jolla, McCarthy Building Companies immediately got to work preparing the land for construction. First the crew set up a work area to house the staff and equipment needed for the project. The site was cleared and stabilized for construction trailers...

Scientist Spotlight: Meet David Wentworth

During the height of the H1N1 Flu pandemic, David Wentworth was running a microbial genetics laboratory at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) where he was instrumental in developing a method to amplify influenza genomes regardless of strain using “universal...

2012 JCVI Internship Program Is Now Accepting New Applications

Wow! Another year has gone by.  Its hard to think it is November - almost December with the warm weather we have been enjoying.  However it did not start that way. The 2012 JCVI Internship Program is open to accept spring and summer applications. The application process includes...

JCVI La Jolla Breaks Ground

It is official! On Tuesday, September 20th JCVI officially broke ground on a new La Jolla, California sustainable lab, to be located directly on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. Craig Venter, JCVI Founder and President along with UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox; Vice Chancellor...

Evaluating Strain-level Variation of Key Acidogenic Species in Dental Plaque Biofilms

The characterization of the dental plaque microbiome, using traditional 16S rDNA profiling strategies, illustrates both the strengths and the limitations of this method. The central limitation of the 16S rDNA methodology is the inability to decipher strain-level variation within a microbiome. Why...

Cataloguing the Gene Expression Patterns of Dental Plaque Biofilms: A Reference Dental Plaque Transcriptome

The RNA-Seq method has been widely adopted as an alternative to the use of DNA microarrays. In most contexts, the RNA-Seq method is implemented when a single reference organism is being studied. Our project endeavored to establish working methods to enable the generation of cDNA libraries that were...

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

Hair claimed to belong to Leonardo da Vinci to undergo DNA testing

Critics, however, argue that this effort is flawed from the beginning

Students learn about genomics, a life in science, at J. Craig Venter Institute