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Tracking Enterovirus D68, Cause of a Polio-like Illness in Some Patients
The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) has played a vital role in defining the diversity of contemporary strains of human enteroviruses by using state-of-the art sequencing technologies, bioinformatics analyses, and in vitro and in vivo modeling.
Help Take the Bite Out of Cancer
Cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases people face. And oral cancers are some of the most vexing to treat. Oral squamous cell carcinoma or OSCC, a very common type of head and neck cancer, characterized by visible tumor lesions in the mouth, affects more than 450,000 people each year. Approximately 60% of new cases are diagnosed during its later stages when the cancer is already metastatic. These alarming statistics are motivating JCVI researchers to focus their efforts on this disease, and...
Every Day is World Food Day at JCVI
World Food Day is a global initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to ensure that people have access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy lives. After a period of decline, world hunger is on the rise again. Today, over 820 million people are suffering chronic undernourishment, according to the latest FAO 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. At JCVI we have several programs aimed at tackling world hunger. One...
Researchers look beyond BMI to predict obesity-related disease risk
Scientists at Scripps Research and collaborating corporate and academic partners have found a new way to use distinct molecular “signatures” from people with obesity to predict risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an advance that could broaden the way doctors and scientists think about diagnosing and treating disease. The research, led by Amalio Telenti, MD, PhD, professor of genomics at Scripps Research and previously a scientific leader at Human Longevity Inc....
Scientists Discover Genetic Basis for Toxic Algal Blooms
Scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have discovered how certain types of algal blooms become toxic, producing a harmful substance known as domoic acid. Microscopic view of domoic acid producing Pseudo-nitzschia diatom in a seawater sample from Monterey Bay, Calif. This diatom species, when in active growth typically typically forms long chains of individual cells. Credit: G. Jason Smith at...
Domoic Acid Decoded: Scientists Discover Genetic Basis for How Harmful Algal Blooms Become Toxic
A team led by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) has uncovered the genetic basis for the production of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin produced by harmful algal blooms. Harmful algal blooms cause significant economic and environmental damage to coastal communities around the world. These blooms occasionally produce toxins that can sicken marine mammals and can threaten human health when...
Ocean Microplastics Explained
As we wrap up sampling in the waters off of Maine, Dr. Chris Dupont discusses how collections of plastic particles in the water – or “plastisphere” – may be harboring fish or human pathogens. There may also be microbes responsible for degrading plastic, which are being investigated. Dr. Dupont's work on microplastics is a continuation of J. Craig Venter Institute's Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) program.
First Minimal Synthetic Bacterial Cell
Researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI) have accomplished the next feat in synthetic biology research—the design and construction of the first minimal synthetic bacterial cell, JCVI-syn3.0. Using the first synthetic cell, Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 (built by this same team in 2010), JCVI-syn3.0 was developed through a design, build, and test (DBT) process using genes from JCVI-syn1.0. The new minimal synthetic cell contains only 531,000...
NSF announces new awards for Understanding the Rules of Life
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced 29 awards in support of Understanding the Rules of Life, one of the agency’s “10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments.” The awards, totaling $15 million, demonstrate NSF’s commitment to address some of the greatest challenges in understanding the living world, in all of its complex levels of organization, from the molecular scale through to the biosphere. "These awards get to the heart of fundamental questions about biological processes...
Dr. Venter at Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series
Dr. Craig Venter was a guest speaker at the Whaling Museum in partnership with Nantucket Community Sailing as part of the Sailors’ Scuttlebutt Lecture Series. Dr. Venter's lecture was titled, "Oceans, Human Health and the Genomic Future" discussing the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS), an ocean exploration genome project with the goal of assessing the genetic diversity in marine microbial communities and to understand...