J CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE
Programs
Antibiotic Resistance Research
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: TWO MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. ARE DIAGNOSED ANNUALLY WITH LIFE-THREATENING INFECTIONS CAUSED BY ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 35,000 DEATHS EACH YEAR WITH AN ECONOMIC IMPACT ESTIMATED TO BE AS MUCH AS $20 BILLION A YEAR IN DIRECT HEALTHCARE COSTS. DUE TO THE SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE, VERY FEW DRUGS REMAIN THAT CAN TREAT THESE INFECTIONS. LED BY DERRICK FOUTS, PHD, (JCVI) AND FUNDED BY THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE AND CLEVELAND VA PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION EPICENTER ARE DEVELOPING NOVEL INTERVENTIONS THAT WILL PREVENT THE COLONIZATION AND SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT (AR) BACTERIA THAT CAUSE HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS (HAI), AND TO DEVELOP DIAGNOSTICS AND INTERVENTIONS TO COMBAT THE COLONIZATION BY THE RAPIDLY EMERGING FUNGAL PATHOGEN CANDIDA AURIS. RICHARD SCHEUERMANN, PHD, IS LEADING A TEAM OF INVESTIGATORS AT JCVI IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK. THROUGH HIS NIH-SPONSORED BIOINFORMATICS RESOURCE CENTER PROJECT, HIS TEAM RELEASED A DEDICATED PUBLIC WEB PORTAL FOR THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE OUTBREAK TO ENSURE DATA AND TOOLS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO FRONTLINE RESEARCHERS WORLDWIDE. ADDITIONALLY, IN COLLABORATION WITH INVESTIGATORS FROM LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY, DR. SCHEUERMANN AND HIS TEAM PROVIDED MACHINE LEARNING METHODS TO HELP COMPLETE THE FIRST ANALYSIS THAT IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL TARGETS FOR HUMAN IMMUNE RESPONSES TO SARS-COV-2 INFECTION. THIS INFORMATION IS CRUCIAL TO THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF DIAGNOSTICS AND VACCINE CANDIDATES.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$8.7MDiatom Genome Engineering Research
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: JCVI IS THE RECIPIENT OF A LARGE COLLABORATIVE ASSISTANCE AWARD FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. AWARDED TO THE VALUE OF $10.7M. LED BY ANDREW ALLEN, PHD, THE JCVI AND ITS COLLABORATORS, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, SEEK TO LEVERAGE SIGNIFICANT RECENT ADVANCES IN DIATOM GENOME ENGINEERING AND METABOLIC MODELING; INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO INTRODUCE CHROMOSOME-LIKE EXPRESSION PLATFORMS, WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY ADVANCE POSSIBILITIES FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT GENERATION AND SCREENING OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED DIATOMS. RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE WILL RESULT IN DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREDICATIVE CAPACITY OF EXISTING GENOME SCALE METABOLIC MODELS OF DIATOM METABOLISM. FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A LARGE SCALE, FLUXOMICS, WHICH IS COMPOUND SPECIFIC INCORPORATION OF AN ISOTOPICALLY-LABELED FEEDSTOCK, WILL BE USED TO PROVIDE BETTER FIRST STEP CONSTRAINTS ON CO2 ASSIMILATION OF IN DIATOMS. STATE-OF-THE-ART HIGH THROUGHPUT IN VITRO EXAMINATIONS OF NEARLY ALL 200 DIATOM TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND REGULATORY ARCHITECTURE UNDERLYING DIATOM METABOLISM AS WELL AS SERVE AS A SOURCE FOR NEW TOOLS FOR GENOME ENGINEERING. TAKEN TOGETHER, RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE WILL ADDRESS CURRENTLY LIMITING BOTTLENECKS THROUGH FOSTERING STATE-OF-THE-ART INTEGRATION OF GENOME-SCALE MODELING WITH GENOME ENGINEERING TO OPTIMIZE ENERGY AND METABOLTE FLUX THROUGH SUBCELLULAR COMPARTMENTS TO PROMOTE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF HIGH VALUE AND FUEL-RELATED METABOLITES.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$800KSynthetic Biology and Genome Transplantation Research
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CONTINUES TO FUND THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE (JCVI) IN THE AREAS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY AND INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS CORE PROGRAMS. UNDER THE DIVISION OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOSCIENCE AND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MINIMAL BACTERIAL CELL COMPUTATIONAL MODELING TEAM, LED BY XZAN LUTEHY-SCHULTEN, JCVI RESEARCHERS LED BY DR. JOHN GLASS, ARE CARRYING OUT TRANSCRIPTOME AND METABOLOMIC ANALYSES, BIOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC EXPERIEMENTS TO DISCOVER UNKNOWN GENE FUNCTIONS, OPTIMIZATION OF A MINIMAL CELL DEFINED GROWTH MEDIUM, AND CONSTRCUTION OF MINIMAL CELL MUTANTS TO FACILITATE THE WORK OF JCVI AND OTHER GROUPS INVESTIGATING MINIMAL CELL BIOLOGY. THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR STUDY WITH COLLABORATIVE FUNDING OF $2 MILLION.LED BY DR. ANDREW ALLEN AND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO (UCSD), JCVI AND UCSD BRING TOGETHER COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE WITH DIATOM MOLECULAR GENETICS, CURRENT DIATOM MODEL ORGANISMS, MARINE BIOCHEMISTRY AND MICROSCOPY AND OUR RECENT DISCOVERY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HITHERTO UNKNOWN PATHWAY FOR DA BIOSYNTHESIS, TO ESTABLISH PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA SP., AS NEW MODEL DIATOM. IN SO DOING, MOLECULAR BIOLOGICAL METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO ENABLE GENOME-TO-PHENOME INVESTIGATIONS OF THE REGULATION AND BIOSYNTHESIS OF DA. SPECIFICALLY, A METHOD TO TRANSFORM PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA SP DRIVEN BY BACTERIAL CONJUGATION WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DISSEMINATED TO MARINE LABS WORLDWIDE. THE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (HABS) THREATENING ECOSYSTEMS, FISHERIES AND HUMAN HEALTH WORLDWIDE, ARE DRIVEN BY ONE DIATOM GENUS, PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA, ALONG WITH SEVERAL DINOFLAGELLATE GENERA AND CYANOBACTERIA. IN THE LAST DECADE, VARIOUS SPECIES OF PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA HAVE PRODUCED DEVASTING BLOOMS OF THE NEUROTOXIN, DOMOIC ACID (DA), IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CALIFORNIA, CHILE, FRANCE, THE GULF OF MAINE, INDONESIA, ITALY, AND TUNISIA. CURRENTLY, THERE IS GREAT UNCERTAINTY REGARDING HOW OCEAN ACIDIFICATION, INCREASED CONCENTRATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2, PRECIPITATION, AND NUTRIENT STRESS WILL SHAPE THE PRODUCTIVITY AND GLOBAL RANGE OF PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA SPECIES. INDEED, LONG TERM TRENDS HAVE EMERGED THAT LINK TOXIC PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA SPP. BLOOMS TO MORE FREQUENT DA CONTAMINATION OF SHELLFISH FISHERIES IN THE WARMER OCEAN TEMPERATURES THAT PREVAIL DURING WARMER YEARS. THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR STUDY WITH COLLABORATIVE FUNDING OF $1.6 MILLION.LED BY DR. JOHN GLASS, THE JCVI IS INVESTIGATING THE MECHANISM OF GENOME TRANSPLANTATION, DEVELOPING GENOME TRANSPLANTATION FOR AT LEAST TWO SPECIES OF NON-MYCOPLASMA BACTERIA, AND USING MICROFLUIDICS TECHNOLOGY TO AUTOMATE AND IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF GENOME TRANSPLANTATION. GENOME TRANSPLANTATION, THE INSERTION OF A COMPLETE BACTERIAL GENOME INTO A SUITABLE RECIPIENT CELL SO THAT THE DONATED GENOME COMMANDEERS THE RECIPIENT CELL TO PRODUCE A NEW CELL WITH THE GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE OF THE DONATED GENOME, WAS THE FUNDAMENTAL TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT THAT ENABLED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST BACTERIUM WITH A SYNTHETIC GENOME. AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD'S FIRST SYNTHETIC CELL, JCVI-SYN1.0, THE WORK WAS HERALDED AS A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR MANKIND. TO DATE, GENOME TRANSPLANTATION HAS ONLY BEEN ACHIEVED USING A SMALL SUBSET OF THE ATYPICAL BACTERIA CALLED MYCOPLASMAS. THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR STUDY WITH COLLABORATIVE FUNDING OF $1 MILLION.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2023Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.7M
Copyright 2026. All rights reserved to Chario Inc. (d.b.a. Impala)