Acapulco Harbor, Mexico

There probably isn’t a harbor in Mexico more impacted by tourism and development than Acapulco. We pull into the stunningly beautiful harbor and sample in front of an area of high rise hotels. The depth of the spot we sampled is only 40 feet, so we just take a surface water sample. Of...

Sampling Blooms in Cabo Corrientes

Just south of Puerto Vallarta is Cabo Corrientes, and our satellite data indicate a large bloom extending 25 miles off the coast. As we enter the bloom the water turns an intense green, and there are numerous fish feeding in the area. Sampling conditions are ideal: bright sunshine, light...

Puerto Vallarta: Investigating the Influence of Coastal Development

Sampling today starts before sunrise when we arrive at Puerto Vallarta. In conjunction with our Mexican collaborators, we are investigating the influence of coastal development, particularly intensive tourism, on marine microbiota, so we take a sample of surface water in Banderas Bay and leave...

Strong Winds

Winds have picked up considerably in the last 36 hours, and tonight they are blowing in the 25 to 30 knot range, below gale force but still too strong to safely deploy our instrumentation. We sail past the plankton bloom near Cedros Island without stopping, but you can see the sparkle of the...

Blooms and Clear Skies

We left under clear skies and light winds, and within hours of heading out, we were sampling the waters off of the Coronado Islands near the US/Mexican border and plotting our sampling schedule for the next few days. The team passed around the latest satellite data from SeaWiFS, NASA’s global...

J. Robert Beyster and Life Technologies 2009-2010 Research Voyage Launch

After two years of intensive sampling in the waters off California and the west coast of the United States, the Sorcerer II Expedition embarked once again on March 21, 2009. Our destination: the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Seas. Funded by generous donations from the Beyster Family...

S. pneumoniae sticks to dying lung cells, worsening secondary infection following flu

Sailing the Seas in Search of Microbes

Projects aimed at collecting big data about the ocean’s tiniest life forms continue to expand our view of the seas.

What the Public Should Not Know

J. Craig Venter, PhD, argues scientists have “a moral obligation to communicate what they're doing to the public,” and that more studies deserve greater public criticism.

Scientists coax cells with the world’s smallest genomes to reproduce normally

The discovery could sharpen scientists’ understanding of which functions are crucial for normal cells and what the many mysterious genes in these organisms are doing

San Diego arts, health, science and youth groups to share $71M from Prebys Foundation

The J. Craig Venter Institute is the recipient of three awards totaling more than $1.5M to study SARS-CoV-2 and heart disease

Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of the First Publication of the Human Genome

A new wave of research is needed to make ample use of humanity’s “most wondrous map”

Scientists rush to determine if mutant strain of coronavirus will deepen pandemic

U.S. researchers have been slow to perform the genetic sequencing that will help clarify the situation

After saving countless lives, Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith retires as his own health falters

He has been a fixture in San Diego science for decades