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The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition: expanding the universe of protein families.
Metagenomics projects based on shotgun sequencing of populations of micro-organisms yield insight into protein families. We used sequence similarity clustering to explore proteins with a comprehensive dataset consisting of sequences from available databases together with 6.12 million proteins predicted from an assembly of 7.7 million Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) sequences. The GOS dataset covers nearly all known prokaryotic protein families. A total of 3,995 medium- and large-sized clusters...
JCVI President, Karen Nelson Elected to National Academy of Sciences
(LA JOLLA, CA)—May 3, 2017—The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) announced today that Karen E. Nelson, Institute President and Head of Microbiome Research, has been elected as a new member to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Nelson was one of the 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,290 and the total number of...
Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., Synthetic Biology Pioneer and Nobel Laureate, to Step Down from Daily Duties at J. Craig Venter Institute
(La Jolla, California)—December 22, 2020—Hamilton O. Smith, M.D., Nobel Laureate, distinguished professor and scientific director of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) Synthetic Biology Group, is retiring from daily duties at the Institute effective December 31, 2020. Dr. Smith will continue advancing JCVI’s mission through authorship and an advisory role as a professor emeritus. Reflecting on this moment, J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. said, “It has been an honor of a lifetime...
Climate change and iron availability may drastically alter algae blooms in the Southern Ocean, trapping vast nutrients
LA JOLLA, CA—July 26, 2021—The Southern Ocean (SO) harbors some of the most intense phytoplankton blooms on Earth. Climate change models predict that average SO surface temperatures will rise from their current average of zero to four degrees Celsius by one to two degrees by 2100 and six degrees by 2300. Additionally, while there is considerable uncertainty regarding the impact of projected climate change on anticipated changes in iron availability, it is believed that iron availability...
H3Africa Update
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the UK-based Wellcome Trust, in partnership with the African Society of Human Genetics, developed a program to foster genomic and epidemiological research in African scientific institutions. The laboratory and computational infrastructure available to most scientists on the African continent is currently insufficient to keep up with the rapid developments in DNA sequencing technologies and the need to use advanced computationally intensive...
Omicron and Beta variants evade antibodies elicited by vaccines and previous infections, but boosters help
ROCKVILLE, MD and LA JOLLA, CA—January 13, 2022—Scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute, along with collaborators, have shown that people who were infected with the original D614 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as those vaccinated with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, have significantly reduced protection against the Beta and Omicron variants as compared to the original D614 virus and Delta variant. While a third...
Animal Forensics and Molecular Biology Techniques
A one-day high school workshop for New Hampton School’s Project Week Hosted by the J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, Maryland – March 11, 2015 Every March, the New Hampton School, an independent high school in New Hampshire, holds Project Week, an experiential learning program that allows students to choose from a wide array of unique activities, both on and off campus. This year, one project group traveled to Washington D.C. to complete a program on...
JCVI Policy Center forecasts US likely to remain biotechnology leader through 2050, but China could threaten position
LA JOLLA, CA—July 28, 2021—The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) Policy Center has released a summary version of their report outlining the competitive landscape of biotechnology through 2050. The report uses nearly 100 indicators to build scoring around a nation’s capacity and potential to invent and produce biotechnology products over time. While they forecast that the United States will continue to lead the world in biotechnology ahead of China, it is by no means assured. “By...
RainDance Technologies Delivers RDT 1000, Sequence Enrichment Solution to JCVI
LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., October 30, 2008 — RainDance Technologies, Inc., a provider of innovative droplet-based microfluidic solutions for human health and disease research, today announced that the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not for profit genomic research organization located in Rockville, MD and La Jolla, CA, will become an early access partner for its new RDT 1000 instrument and Sequence Enrichment application. Under the Early Access Partner program,...
JCVI Researchers Collaborate on Sequence and Analysis of First Pennate Diatom Genome
LA JOLLA, CA — October 15, 2008 — The genome of Phaeodactylum tricornutum has been sequenced and analyzed by a large international team of researchers led by U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) and the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris. The group also includes scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute. The team was led by first author Chris Bowler, Ph.D., of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, and published results in the October 15 edition of Nature....