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J. Craig Venter at Recent Google Zeitgeist Conference [VIDEO]
Dr. J. Craig Venter recently spoke at a Google Zeitgeist conference in Arizona where he spoke on advances in genomics, synthetic biology, and DNA as the software of life.
La Jolla Community Celebrates Art and Science at Venter Institute Event
On Friday, September 12, the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) hosted a reception at its La Jolla campus to celebrate the installation of “LIFE FORCE,” an original painting by San Diego-based artist and architect Fred Gemmell. This spectacular piece now hangs prominently in the entry of JCVI’s sustainable laboratory. Nearly 100 community leaders attended this beautiful evening which featured live music, award-winning wine courtesy of Coomber Family Ranch Wines, and delicious sushi from...
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. Institution Excellence Rate Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard 49.53 Whitehead Institute for Biomedical...
Carl Woese 1928-2012
Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on T. Taxus, December 31, 2012, by Jonathan Badger. Dr. Badger is an Assistant Professor in the Microbial and Environmental Genomics Group at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, CA. Reprinted by permission. As you may have heard, Carl Woese died of pancreatic cancer yesterday at the age of 84. I had the honor of working with Carl in grad school at the University of Illinois where my advisor, Gary Olsen, ran a joint lab with...
'Twas the night before Christmas
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the building All our creatures were stirring, even our mold; The dishes were placed in the incubator with prayer, In hopes that pure growth soon would be there; The scientists were nestled all close to their screens instead While swirls of DNA danced in their heads; My coworker in her labcoat, and I with my pipettor, Had just settled down for a long...
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 was on April 22, which also it happens to be Earth Day. Although it rained heavily throughout the event, there were a large number of people in attendance including several local government...
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 for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine, David Brenner; Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Tony Haymet; and San Diego Mayor Jerry...
NASA and JCVI host symposium on the evolution of Earth and Life
On May 12th and 13th, the J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego will be hosting a NASA Astrobiology Institute-funded symposium titled “Paleobiology in the genomics era.” Paleobiology is the study of the origins and evolution of life and, by nature, is interdisciplinary. The goal is to bring together scientists united by this common interest but differentiated by expertise. A major intellectual challenge to paleobiology is the close interaction between environment and life. As life evolved,...
A Look Back at 2010 at the JCVI…
As the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) soars into its 19th year, we reflect on the past year of highlights and accomplishments to mark the close 2010 and look forward to more significant scientific advances in 2011. JCVI Top 10 of 2010 ... 1. First Synthetic Cell: Fifteen years in the making, 2010 brought to bear with huge anticipation the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The work was published in Science in May. The synthetic cell called...
Scientist Spotlight: Meet Vanessa Hayes
Geneticist Vanessa Hayes does not think small nor move slowly—from completing her post doc in six months (the US National average is 3 to 7 years) to completing the first South African Genome Project in 2010 with her goal set on defining the extent of human diversity in all populations, she is on a mission. Just 11 years outside her post doc she has the credentials of someone who has been in science much longer. Her work and talent has taken her to remote regions of Southern Africa, all...