Synthetic Cell-Powered Lotion to Manage Type 1 Diabetes

Early last year we first talked about how researchers Yo Suzuki, PhD, and John Glass, PhD at JCVI set out to eliminate the need for type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients to receive insulin injections to manage blood glucose levels through a novel approach: developing a bacterial replacement for beta...

COVID-19 Further Complicating Flu Season

While the world is rightly focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to know that influenza is always a significant public health burden, and the combination of the pandemic and flu season could converge to become a perfect storm of infectious diseases. Influenza causes 3 to...

Sara Josephine Baker

At the beginning of the 20th century, many people remained skeptical of both germ theory and preventative medicine, but pioneering physician Dr. Sara Josephine Baker fought to revolutionize public health and is credited with saving tens of thousands of lives. After studying chemistry and...

JCVI Researchers Help Advance Our Understanding of Ocean Microbes, Developing New Tools and Protocols Through Large-Scale Study

The oceans cover over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface and contain an abundance of life including diverse populations of marine microbes.  Studying the  genetics, biochemistry and metabolism of these microbes has been one of JCVI’s long standing research initiatives and is...

Online Education Resources to Help With Your New “Normal”

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to our daily lives and routines, including for many of you the role of an at-home educator for your children due to open-ended school closures.  While we also miss directly connecting with students from our community, JCVI remains committed...

Coronavirus Pandemic: Putting Comprehensive Genomic Data in the Hands of Frontline Researchers Worldwide is Paramount

According to the CDC, SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, has now been detected in more than 150 countries/locations internationally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and in the United States it has been declared it a national emergency. As...

Characterization of Bacteria from the International Space Station Drinking Water

From a microbiology perspective, the International Space Station (ISS) is interesting considering its microgravity, increased radiation, low humidity and elevated carbon dioxide levels. Because of its isolation, and unique environment, it is vital to study the microorganisms that thrive there...

Venter Institute Researchers Tackle the Growing Concern of Antibiotic Resistant Bacterial Infections with Genomic, Phage Approaches

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year in the United States two million people acquire antibiotic resistant bacterial infections that lead to 23,000 deaths. Antibiotic resistance affects people of all ages and seriously impacts the healthcare, veterinary,...

2019 Summer Internship Program

The 2019 Summer Internship Program which wrapped up in August was another rousing success at the J. Craig Venter Institute.  Faculty and staff in both the Rockville (MD) and La Jolla (CA) campuses mentored and trained  25 students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate students)...

Scientists in La Jolla Make Progress Understanding New Coronavirus Strain

Gene Drives: New and Improved

As the science advances, policy-makers and regulators need to develop responses that reflect the latest developments and the diversity of approaches and applications.

Pink shoes and a lab jacket: Finding your way as a female scientist

Women in science tell high school girls they, too, can change the world

PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Jazz piano in La Jolla scientist Clyde Hutchison’s DNA

How AI can help us decode immunity

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the keys to unraveling how the human immune system prevents and controls disease

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