The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

genomics Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of molecular biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, ...

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives, and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation Joint Technology Center. It has facilities in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

, and

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California The institute studies the

societal A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

implications of genomics in addition to genomics itself. The institute's research involves genomic medicine; environmental genomic analysis;

clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...

;

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nat ...

; and ethics, law, and economics. The institute employs over 200 people, including Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith. It was sold to the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, in 2022.

History

In 2004, the Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG), the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA) and the J. Craig Venter Institute Joint Technology Center (JTC) were merged to form the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). In 1992, Craig Venter was a researcher at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH). He began The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) during the same time and was part of the determination of the human genome. Because of disagreements of how the project was being managed TIGR was excluded from the funding by NIH in 1998. The political, personal, and ethical conflicts of the race between the public and private sectors have been notable. In 1995, the precursor to the J. Craig Venter Institute, TIGR, determined the sequence of ''

Haemophilus influenzae ''Haemophilus influenzae'' (formerly called Pfeiffer's bacillus or ''Bacillus influenzae'') is a Gram-negative, Motility, non-motile, Coccobacillus, coccobacillary, facultative anaerobic organism, facultatively anaerobic, Capnophile, capnophili ...

'', ''

Mycoplasma genitalium ''Mycoplasma genitalium'' (also known as ''MG','' Mgen, or since 2018, ''Mycoplasmoides genitalium'') is a sexually transmitted, small and pathogenic bacterium that lives on the mucous epithelial cells of the urinary and genital tracts in ...

'', and '' Methanococcus jannaschii''. In 1997, TIGR determined the genome of ''

Borrelia burgdorferi ''Borrelia burgdorferi'' is a bacterial species of the spirochete class in the genus '' Borrelia'', and is one of the causative agents of Lyme disease in humans. Along with a few similar genospecies, some of which also cause Lyme disease, it m ...

'' (which causes Lyme Disease) . In 1998, TIGR sequenced the genome of ''

Treponema pallidum ''Treponema pallidum'', formerly known as ''Spirochaeta pallida'', is a Microaerophile, microaerophilic, Gram-negative bacteria, gram-negative, spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also known as endemic ...

'' (which causes syphilis). In 1999 TIGR published the sequence of the radioresistant polyextremophile '' Deinococcus radiodurans''. TIGR has sequenced and analyzed more than 50 microbial genomes. TIGR developed the gene finder GLIMMER and the

sequence alignment In bioinformatics, a sequence alignment is a way of arranging the sequences of DNA, RNA, or protein to identify regions of similarity that may be a consequence of functional, structural biology, structural, or evolutionary relationships between ...

program

MUMmer Mummers were bands of men and women from the medieval to early modern era who (during public festivities) dressed in fantastic clothes and costumes and serenaded people outside their houses, or joined the party inside. Costumes were varied and mi ...

. In

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "United States, America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after th ...

, TIGR worked with the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and the FBI to sequence the strain of ''

Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent (obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ty ...

'' used in bioterrorism attacks. In June 2000, Venter founded The Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG), a think tank for studying the ethics of human genetics and stem cells research. Also in 2002, Venter founded the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives (IBEA) to investigate the use of microorganisms to produce alternate fuels (such as hydrogen) and to sequester carbon dioxide. The IBEA began genomic sequencing of environmental microbial populations that might be used. To provide support for these facilities, Venter created the J. Craig Venter Institute Joint Technology Center (JTC), which specialized in high throughput sequencing. To provide administrative and financial support for TIGR, TCAG, IBEA and JTC, Venter created the non-profit J. Craig Venter Science Foundation (JCVSF) to consolidate activities between its affiliated organizations. In 2007, the institute published the first diploid human genome, ''i.e.'' the genome of a single individual (J. Craig Venter) in which both sets of chromosomes were sequenced. In 2010, the institute determined the 1.08 million base pair ''

Mycoplasma mycoides ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' is a bacterial species of the genus ''Mycoplasma'' in the class Mollicutes. This microorganism is a parasite that lives in ruminants. ''Mycoplasma mycoides'' comprises two subspecies, ''Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides, ...

'' genome, which was then inserted into a cell to create the first cell with a completely synthetic genome. In April 2022 Venter sold the La Jolla facility to the

for $25 million. The university, which already has a very strong genomics program, hopes to absorb most of the institute's faculty and its current research grants. Venter will continue to lead a separate nonprofit research group, also known as the J. Craig Venter Institute.

References

External links

*
Comprehensive Microbial Resource
{{authority control Genetics or genomics research institutions Research institutes in Maryland Mycoplasma Research institutes in California La Jolla, San Diego Rockville, Maryland Research institutes established in 2006 2006 establishments in Maryland 2006 establishments in California Medical research institutes in California

History

See also

References

External links