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Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases (GCID)
The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases (GCID) was established by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to investigate infectious disease biology through the application of DNA sequencing, genotyping, and comparative genome analysis. The JCVI GCID aims to study pathogens and the genetic determinants of their virulence, drug-resistance, immune evasion and interactions with the host, and host microbiome to advance research...
JCVI Launches New Internship Partnership with Smithsonian Science Education Center
Are you passionate about science education? If so, we have a unique hands-on opportunity for you to be a part of real teams of scientists and educators. Open to undergraduate and graduate students with no previous lab experience required.
Developing Genetic Tools to Manipulate African Swine Fever Virus and Generate Attenuated Strains
African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating hemorrhagic disease of pigs with mortality rates up to 100% in infected pig herds. It is prevalent in many sub-Saharan African countries, causing major economic losses and threatening food security. Due to this sustained occurrence and the ever-increasing global traffic of people and goods, ASF poses an added global threat. ASF is caused by a large DNA virus, African swine fever virus (ASFV), and there is currently no vaccine against it. A...
Viral Synthetic Genomics to Engineer Large dsDNA Viruses
Viruses with large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genomes are a diverse group, which includes members that can infect a wide range of different hosts. Some of these viruses are important pathogens of humans and animals. Improving our ability to manipulate their genomes rapidly and accurately will increase our understanding of how these viruses replicate and cause disease and the likelihood of developing vaccines. Utilizing synthetic genomics tools developed by scientists at the J. Craig Venter...
Policy Research
J. Craig Venter Institute’s policy research focuses on understanding and anticipating the societal implications of 21st century biology. We remain committed to educating policy makers on the possible implications of emerging science so that they’re able to create guidelines that will maximize the positive and avoid the negative outcomes on society.
BREAD: Toward Development of a Vaccine for Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP)
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides (Mmm), is an economically very important livestock disease within Africa that limits the availability of protein sources for nutrition and restricts trade. The current control relies on a live vaccine that has shortcomings, such as, limited efficacy and short duration of immunity. International efforts to create a vaccine to protect against CBPP have been thwarted because of an almost complete lack of...
Characterization of <em>Burkholderia</em> Persistence Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance
Melioidosis, a serious disease endemic to tropical regions of Southeast Asia, northern Australia, Africa, the Middle East, China, India, and South America is caused by the motile Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp). Bp is intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics. Additionally, surviving a melioidosis infection confers no immunity to subsequent challenge with Bp nor are there vaccines that are protective against melioidosis. A major concern in the management of melioidosis...
Revealing Roles of Uncultivated Species in the Oral Microbiome
Many human microbial infectious diseases including oral caries are polymicrobial in nature, and closely associated with ecological conditions of the microbial communities. Oral caries disease is one of the most prevalent and costly bacterial infections in humans. Understanding the metabolism and gene expression profiles as well as inter-species interactions within these complex microbial communities are necessary steps in studying the diseases and finding new treatment solutions. While many new...
A Pilot Gut Microbiome study to evaluate TEDDY Infectious Agents
Type 1 Diabetes mellitus (T1D) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by a loss of function of insulin producing beta cells in pancreatic islets of langerhans leading to insulin insufficiency. Published studies have suggested that T1D results from environmental triggers acting on genetically susceptible individuals and that microbial infection and their immunological consequences are suspected to take part in the pathogenesis. Altered microbial diversity in the gut microbiota has been shown to...
First Self-Replicating Synthetic Bacterial Cell
Genomic science has greatly enhanced our understanding of the biological world. It is enabling researchers to "read" the genetic code of organisms from all branches of life by sequencing the four letters that make up DNA. Sequencing genomes has now become routine, giving rise to thousands of genomes in the public databases. In essence, scientists are digitizing biology by converting the A, C, T, and G's of the chemical makeup of DNA into 1's and 0's in a computer. But can one reverse the...