About
Biographies
Research Interests and Accomplishments
Nacyra Assad-Garcia is a Staff Scientist who joined the Synthetic Biology group at JCVI in 2002 from Celera. She is an active member of the team that is working on creating a synthetic cell. As part of the team, Nacyra has established methods for manipulating mycoplasmas and transplanting genomes from one species into another. These techniques will be useful for generating minimal genomes in an effort to understand cellular processes.
Nacyra received her BSc degree from the National Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico. After graduating, Nacyra worked for CINVESTAV-IPN Unidad Irapuato in Irapuato,Mexico. She was then recruited to Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD and subsequently to Celera, Rockville, MD.
Select Publications
Grover RK, Zhu X, et al.
A Structurally Distinct Human Mycoplasma Protein That Generically Blocks Antigen-antibody Union.
Science (New York, N.Y.). 2014 Feb 07; 343: 656-61.[more]
Karr JR, Sanghvi JC, et al.
A Whole-cell Computational Model Predicts Phenotype from Genotype.
Cell. 2012 Jul 20; 150: 389-401.[more]
Gibson, D. G., Glass, J. I., et al.
Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome
Science. 2010 Jul 02; 329(5987): 52-6.[more]
Krishnakumar, R., Assad-Garcia, N., et al.
Targeted Chromosomal Knockouts In Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2010 Jun 11; 76(15): 5297-9.[more]
Benders, G. A., Noskov, V. N., et al.
Cloning Whole Bacterial Genomes In Yeast
Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Mar 07; 38(8): 2558-69.[more]
Lartigue, C., Vashee, S., et al.
Creating Bacterial Strains from Genomes That Have Been Cloned and Engineered In Yeast
Science. 2009 Aug 20;[more]
Algire, M. A., Lartigue, C., et al.
A New Selectable Marker for Manipulating the Simple Genomes of Mycoplasma
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2009 Aug 17;[more]
Glass JI, Assad-Garcia N, et al.
Essential Genes of a Minimal Bacterium.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2006 Jan 10; 103(2): 425-30.[more]
Lin, J., Xia, J. Lan, J., Assad-Garcia, N.
The Effect of Tissue Culture Conditions on Auxin Stability In Culture Media
Focus. 1998 Jan 01; 20: 17-18.[more]
Cabrera-Ponce, J.L., Lopez, L., Assad-Garcia, N., Medina-Arevalo, C., Bailey, A., Herrera-Estrella, L.
An Efficient Particle Bombardment System for the Genetic Transformation of Asparagus (Asparagus Officinalis L.)
Plant Cell Reports. 1997 Jan 01; 16: 255-260.[more]
Lin, J., Ma, J., Assad-Garcia, N., Kuo, J.
Hygromycin B as an Efficient Antibiotic for the Selection of Transgenic Plants.
Focus. 1996 Feb 01; 18(2): 47-49.[more]
Lin, J., Assad-Garcia, N., Kuo, J.
Plant Hormone Effect of Antibiotics on the Transformation Efficiency of Plant Tissue by Agrobacterium tumefaciens Cells.
Plant Science. 1995 Jun 01; 109: 171-177.[more]
Simpson, J., Montes-Hernandez, S., Gutierrez-Campos, R., Assad-Garcia, N., Herrera-Estrella, L.
Genetic Transformation In Physalis Species (Tomatillo).
Biotechnology in Agriculture and forestry. 1995 Jun 01; 34: 228-239.[more]
Lin, J., Fike, R., Assad-Garcia, N.
Improved Regeneration of Plant Tissue: A Novel Medium Format and Membrane-based Liquid Culture System.
Focus. 1995 Mar 01; 17(3): 95-97.[more]
Lin, J., Assad-Garcia, N., Kuo, J.
Effects of Agrobacterium Cell Concentration on the Transformation Efficiency of Tobacco and Arabidopsis Thaliana.
Focus. 1994 Mar 01; 16(3): 72-77.[more]
Zabaleta, E., Oropeza, A., Assad, N., Mandel, A., Salerno, G., Herrera-Estrella, L.
Antisense Expression of Chaperonin 60 B In Transgenic Tobacco Plants Leads to Abnormal Phenotypes and Altered Distribution of Photoassimilates.
Plant Journal. 1994 Mar 01; 6(3): 425-432.[more]
Zabaleta, E., Assad, N., et al.
Expression of One of the Members of the Arabidopsis Chaperonin 60 Beta Gene Family Is Developmentally Regulated and Wound-repressible
Plant Mol Biol. 1994 Jan 01; 24(1): 195-202.[more]
Assad-Garcia, N., Ochoa-Alejo, N., Garcia-Hernandez, E., Herrera-Estrella, L., Simpson, J.
Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation of Tomatillo (Physalis Ixocarpa) and Tissue Specific and Developmental Expression of the CaMV 35S Promoter In Transgenic Tomatillo Plants
Plant Cell Reports. 1992 Nov 01; 11: 558-562.[more]