12/01/2011
JGI Scientist Profiled as an Up-and-Coming “Young Investigator” by Genome Technology
Summary
The latest issue of Genome Technology leads off its 6th Annual Young Investigator survey with a profile of Tanja Woyke of the DOE-Joint Genome Institute. This annual year-end article focuses on young investigators carrying out cutting-edge “omics” research, the post-genomic exploration of the biological meaning of sequenced genomes from microbes, plants, and environments. Woyke is profiled for her work developing and using single-cell genomics, the technology permitting elaboration of the entire genome sequence of a single microbial cell, without prior cultivation (to which the vast majority of environmental microbes are resistant). Woyke is exploring microbial taxa from the unexplored regions of the microbial tree of life about which almost nothing is known, either about physiological capacities or evolutionary relationships. The promise of this work is that single-cell genomics will enable the exploration of microbes important for bioenergy processes, waste cleanup, and carbon cycling.
References
Curtin, C., et al. 2011. “Sixth Annual Young Investigators,” Genome Technologies 117, 36-45.