Ongoing studies from this collaboration are now investigating the underlying microbial and immunological mechanisms, with promising results. Further publications are expected soon.

The international team is led by JCVI's Marcelo Freire and FOB/USP's Paulo Sérgio da Silva Santos, with Mailon Cury Carneiro, a former visiting PhD student in Freire's lab and now a visiting scientist affiliated with the institute.

Rather than treating bad breath as a cosmetic issue, the research frames it as a measurable condition with real psychosocial consequences.

Using a cysteine challenge test, the team revealed that most participants harbored latent halitosis undetectable under standard conditions and even individuals without clinically confirmed bad breath reported significant emotional distress.

The research looks at clinical and psychosocial aspects of halitosis, and how volatile sulfur compounds—especially methyl mercaptan—correlate with quality of life. Understanding these mechanism can inform better diagnostics and treatments.

Psychosocial burden of halitosis: association between volatile sulfur compounds and quality of life in adults Psychosocial burden of halitosis: association between volatile sulfur compounds and quality of life in adults, Carneiro, Mailon Cury, de Menezes, Maria Lívia Rodrigues, Caminha, Raquel D’Aquino Garcia, Freire, Marcelo, Santos, Paulo Sérgio da Silva

Bad breath isn't just awkward. It can be a biological signal.

New research from JCVI, in collaboration with the Bauru School of Dentistry at @uspoficial.bsky.social (FOB/USP), takes a closer look at halitosis (bad breath) and its real impact on patients’ lives.

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Our move to the RaDD campus marks an exciting new chapter for JCVI. We’re looking forward to being part of downtown San Diegos’s growth, and we know our new home base will be an excellent environment for our researchers to continue to advance critical genomic science.

The campus has also received a LEED Gold Certification, recognizing its energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, and lower carbon emissions.

This multi-use campus spans approximately 1.7 million square feet across six city blocks on San Diego's downtown waterfront, integrating advanced laboratory and office space with modern infrastructure.

Last May we announced we were moving to new west coast headquarters at IQHQ's state-of-the-art Research and Development District (RaDD) in downtown San Diego. Construction has been rapidly proceeding and we are counting down the months until we move into our fabulous new space this summer!

The microbiome of plastics mainly consists of microbes that like to grow attached to substrates, so she is hopeful to find plastic degraders among these samples. She will be taking air and water samples for microplastic count along the voyage.

Dr. Garza will be focused on the microbiome of these particles and testing their potential for plastic degradation.

Led by the Aluwihare lab of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and chief scientist, Dr. Benjamin Granzow, the ship will be collecting sinking, suspended, and dissolved organic matter for genomic, metabolomic, and proteomic analysis.

Studying these systems helps us better understand how upwellings support marine food webs and contribute to nutrient cycling. These areas are also vulnerable to climate change and need to be regularly monitored.

JCVI Assistant Professor, Erin Garza, PhD is currently aboard R/V Sally Ride off the coast of California as part of a larger expedition to study the region's California Current, which is an important upwelling system and one of the most productive ocean areas in the world. 🧪

SynBYSS The International SynBYSS Conference is focused on bringing together the synthetic biology community with the explicit goal of developing young...

Early bird registration for the 2nd SynBYSS Conference in Barcelona on June 8–11, 2026 is ending soon! Register now to ensure a spot. SynBYSS coincides with a visit by Pope Leo XIV honoring the 100th anniversary of architect Antoni Gaudí's death, so hotels may fill quickly.

www.jcvi.org/synbyss

Bringing the genetically minimal cell to life on a computer in 4D Simulating the complete cell cycle of the minimal cell provides a platform to understand the progression of complete states over time. The spatial heterogeneity of the intracellular environment can st...

Together, this work highlights the minimal cell as a powerful model organism for uncovering the first principles of life—and as a flexible chassis for future biological design and experimentation.

Read the paper @cellpress.bsky.social:

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Our team contributed key experimental data, including engineered mutants, growth rates, and phenotypic measurements that helped ground the model in biological reality.

Team simulates a living cell that grows and divides A simulated cell in the early stages of division. Left half shows cytoplasm (blue cubes), mRNA degradation machinery molecules (pink), and sugar...

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign have achieved the first full 4D simulation of a living cell’s complete life cycle—growth, metabolism, and division—using the JCVI minimal cell.

www.jcvi.org/media-center...

Genetic Markers Remain Detectable in Genetically Engineered Microbes Biocontained with a CRISPR Kill Switch Biocontainment strategies, such as kill switches, have been developed to avoid the unintended proliferation of genetically engineered microbes (GEMs) intended for open-release environmental applications. However, the presence of GEM DNA after successful biocontainment presents new environmental risks and challenges for monitoring. In this study, we investigated whether biocontainment using a CRISPR-Cas9 kill switch, which causes double-strand breaks in target genes essential for GEM growth, could resolve this challenge in a model Escherichia coli GEM. Surprisingly, the escape rates of the GEM as determined by CRISPR-targeted gene abundances were as high as 10–1.6 to 10–1.0 in LB media, despite the escape rates measured by colony forming units (cfu) being only 10–6.2 under the same condition. This discrepancy suggested that the CRISPR-Cas9 kill switch prevents colony growth while still leaving a large fraction of target genes intact for detection by molecular methods. Within 1 h after biocontainment, these target genes remained predominantly inside an intact cell membrane and were resistant to degradation by DNase, though degradation was observed in river water over multiple days. Overall, a detailed understanding of the impact of the biocontainment mechanism on both the GEM and its DNA is needed to minimize unintended environmental risks.

Our collaborative work is out in Environmental Science & Technology, a high-impact @acs.org journal. Thanks to Kim Parker for her leadership & researchers in her & my labs for tireless efforts in this challenging project funded by NSF, US EPA & USDA
@jcvi.org

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

@jcv.bsky.social named to the @forbes.com 250: Greatest American Innovators for spearheading the effort to map the first draft sequence of the human genome. 

www.forbes.com/sites/alexkn...

Together, the panelists guided the audience through the current scientific landscape with thoughtful discussion of the ethical questions that will shape how science influences society and our future.

Last Thursday, @jcv.bsky.social joined @rommieamaro.bsky.social and Dr. Peter Cowhey at #TheNAT in San Diego to talk about “Why Does Science Matter?”.

SynBYSS The International SynBYSS Conference is focused on bringing together the synthetic biology community with the explicit goal of developing young...

#SynBYSS conference is scheduled on Jun 8-11, 2026 in Barcelona. Given the 100-year celebration of Architect Gaudi in Barcelona, we suggest early booking of hotels.
Details can be found: www.jcvi.org/events/synbyss (speakers, abstract submission & registration)
@jcvi.org @marcguellc.bsky.social

Engineering microbial consortia for mixed plastic upcycling - Nature Communications The chemical complexity of post-consumer ‘mixed’ plastic waste limits its use as a feedstock for biomanufacturing. Here the authors combine transition-metal-free plastic deconstruction with a microbia...

Take a look at our previous @natcomms.nature.com paper.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Elucidation of odd-chain dicarboxylate metabolism in Acinetobacter baylyi and application to polyethylene upcycling Polyethylene (PE) is a versatile polymer, but its end-of-life management is challenging due to its recalcitrant structure. We present a promising appr…

Led by JCVI's @taeseokmoon.bsky.social, the paper highlights how engineered microbes could reshape plastic recycling and accelerate a circular bioeconomy.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Following our recent @natcomms.nature.com study on microbial consortia that upcycle mixed plastics, we’ve published a new paper supporting this broad vision.

Elucidation of odd-chain dicarboxylate metabolism in Acinetobacter baylyi and application to polyethylene upcycling Polyethylene (PE) is a versatile polymer, but its end-of-life management is challenging due to its recalcitrant structure. We present a promising appr…

Our work on waste plastic polyethylene upcycling is out @cp-trendsbiotech.bsky.social thanks to huge efforts by Yuxin Tian, Seong-Min Cho, Sunkyu Park & Jinjin Diao @ncstate.bsky.social & @jcvi.org supported by NSF Global Center, DOE BER & AIChE Langer Prize!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Registration & abstract website is open!
2nd #SynBYSS conference on June 8-11, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.
Architect Gaudi passed away on June 10, 1926. Book a hotel room ASAP, given the centennial festival.
24 more speakers will be selected from abstracts.
@jcvi.org
eventum.upf.edu/140550/detai...

BV-BRC 2026 Workshops In person, March 2-6, San Diego, hosted by J. Craig Venter Institute. Register now for a free workshop!

Turn biological data into insights, fast. Join this hands-on, high-energy workshop to learn practical tools and workflows you can use right away.

Register now and level up your analysis!
forms.office.com/r/ex7hpq9u2M