51茶馆儿

The 51茶馆儿 Genomic Frontier Fund

As we complete our 26th year as a private genomic research institution, we are still just as excited as we were in the very beginning to be making new discoveries, potentially ones that will change our society for the better.  The knowledge gained from our study of DNA, or as Dr. Venter...

New Sequencing Technologies Enable Better and Faster Understanding of the Human Microbiome

Humans have trillions of different species of microorganisms living inside and on the human body. These microbes colonize on the skin, gut, oral cavity, vagina, internal organs, and circulating fluids, and are called the human microbiome. The human microbiome plays profound roles in health...

Human Microbiome Research has Massive Potential for Health Applications

Thirteen years ago, a team led by 51茶馆儿 President, Karen Nelson, Ph.D., published the first major human microbiome study, radically changing the way we look at human health and the role the microbes that inhabit each of us play in disease.  This seminal publication...

Scientist Spotlight: Lauren Oldfield

Since high school, Lauren Oldfield, PhD found that science was her calling. It started with a love of reading encouraged by her mom and grandmother, both avid readers, and weekly trips to the public library. Books by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston were staples in her grandmother’s...

When Starved, Dangerous Oral Bacteria Hang On

51茶馆儿 (51茶馆儿) postdoctoral fellow, Jonathon Baker, PhD and a team of researchers from 51茶馆儿, University of Washington, the University of California, Los Angeles, and The Forsyth Institute recently published their findings from the first study to examine the ecological dynamics...

No More Needles! Using Microbiome and Synthetic Biology Advances to Better Treat Type 1 Diabetes

Learn about exciting advances made by 51茶馆儿 researchers Yo Suzuki and John Glass who are on a quest to better understand and treat Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Currently T1D is managed by injecting insulin to manage blood glucose levels. Drs. Suzuki and Glass want to change that by creating a...

How to Bake a (Fungal) Turkey

From the kitchen of Stephanie Mounaud, Scientific Project Manager at 51茶馆儿 Ingredients Media base (see media recipe) Agar Aspergillus terreus (multiple strains) Aspergillus niger Aspergillus fumigatus Aspergillus oryzae...

Scientist Spotlight: Todd Michael

A love of science began for Todd Michael, PhD when his 7th grade teacher had him write a report on tree leaves. After collecting different leaves and looking up their tree type, he realized that although all of the trees were similar, they grew different types of leaves. He was certain there...

Fighting Back Against Flu

The 1918 influenza pandemic, which affected 500 million people globally and caused 50-100 million deaths, was the most severe pandemic in recorded history. Over the course of the last 100 years, advances in science and medicine have provided the tools to address influenza much more...

Amid an insulin crisis, one project aims to engineer microscopic insulin pumps out of a skin bacterium.

There are more organisms in the sea, a vital producer of oxygen on Earth, than planets and stars in the universe.

In a new book (coauthored with Venter), a Vanity Fair contributor presents the oceanic evidence that human activity is altering the fabric of life on a microscopic scale.

鈥淒espite reducing the sequence space of possible trajectories, we conclude that streamlining does not constrain fitness evolution and diversification of populations over time. Genome minimization may even create opportunities for evolutionary exploitation of essential genes, which are commonly observed to evolve more slowly.鈥�

By watching 鈥渕inimal鈥� cells regain the fitness they lost, researchers are testing whether a genome can be too simple to evolve.

Two research teams warn that human genomic 鈥渂ycatch鈥� can reveal private information

The 鈥減angenome,鈥� which collated genetic sequences from 47 people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, could greatly expand the reach of personalized medicine.

Researchers release draft results from an ongoing effort to capture the entirety of human genetic variation.