Virtual Comparative Metagenomics

We have created an open virtualization format (OVF) package of JCVI's Metagenomics Reports (METAREP)- a high performance comparative metagenomics analysis tool. The software runs on a web server, retrieves data from two different database systems and uses R for statistical analysis. The new OVF...

Italy: Sites and Sailing

Saturday July 31st When I last wrote we had finished our 10 day sampling window in Italian waters. On Wednesday July 21st we arrived in Rome the same day Dr. Venter, Heather Kowalski, and Darwin the super boat dog had flown in from the states. We spent 3 days in Rome, most of the time was spent...

10 Days of Italian Sampling Coming to a Close

Tuesday July 20th On July 16th we finished our Straits of Messina sampling and headed into the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.  We sailed overnight and collected our Ionian Sea sample,  we continued  northeast and  on July 18th we collected our Adriatic...

HMP Consortium - St. Louis Missouri

Human Microbiome Project Consortium – September 2010 – St Louis, Missouri We received warm welcome messages from Dr George Weinstock and Dr Jane Petersen as well as a humorous welcome from Dr Larry Shapiro, Dean of Washington University Medical School.  It was wonderful to see so...

Straits of Messina Transect

Friday July 16th Today we woke up early and left our anchorage at Vulcano Island and headed to the Straits of Messina 20 miles away. The plan was to collect a sample at the north entrance, anchor for 5 hours to process the sample. Once the sample was completed then head to the middle of the...

Advance Access JCVI Metagenomics Reports Application Note

A significant JCVI informatics development is JCVI Metagenomics Reports, an open source Web 2.0 application designed to help scientists analyze and compare annotated metagenomics data sets. Users can download the application to upload and analyze their own metagenomics datasets. METAREP has...

Naples Harbor Sampling

Thursday July 15th After getting some sleep at anchorage in Ischia island we sailed for a few hours to the main harbor in Naples.  Over the years the Sorcerer II Expedition has collected samples in major ports around the world (Sydney, Halifax, Boston,  Panama, Cape Town, just to name...

Italian Sampling Continues-Unique Animal in Italian Waters!

Wednesday July 14th Monday July 12th we woke up early and left the anchorage in Capraia Island. We arrived at Ischia island at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday the 14th. In those 48 hours we collected 6 samples. Two samples were collected in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, two samples were collected over a...

Mediterranean Sampling Season Starts

Sunday July 11th 2010 On Thursday July 8th Sorcerer II set sail from Valencia Spain to start the Mediterranean season. Permits vary from country to country, Italy gave us 10 days to collect our samples, so we had to time our departure from Spain to fit our 10 day sampling window in Italy. As we...

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