What is the JI's most significant contribution?

21st May 2010

The John Innes Centre and the Sainsbury Laboratory were recently ranked number one of the world’s “top institutions in plant and animal sciences”. The Norwich Research Park institutes do not produce the highest number of papers, but their papers have the greatest impact. Between 1999 and 2009 JIC and TSL papers were cited more frequently than papers from any other organization.

But now the John Innes Centre wants you to vote on what you think is the most important contribution it has made to plant and microbial science over the last 100 years. Was the release of the John Innes Compost formulae in the 1930s the centre’s most significant contribution for scientists and growers? Or was the research into semi-dwarfing genes the most significant contribution to agriculture?

There are five research areas on which you can vote and the winner will be announced in July as JIC brings its centenary celebrations to a close.

Compost

In the mid 1930's the formulae for the 'John Innes Composts' were developed to provide a sterile, well-balanced growing medium for experimental plant material. These formulae were subsequently released to the public and dominate the compost market in the UK.

Semi-leafless peas

The first registered 'semi-leafless' pea varieties arose out of research and breeding work at the JIC. The improved crop productivity and standing ability led to the use of ‘semi-leafless’ peas worldwide and they account for 100% of current UK dried pea varieties today.

Wheat semi-dwarfing genes

During the 'Green Revolution' in the 1960s and 70s, world wheat yields almost doubled as a result of the introduction of dwarfed, high-yielding wheat varieties and new cultivation methods resulting from research developed at JIC.

Advances in cereal breeding

The establishment of genetic maps of barley, wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and millet, which are ‘road maps’ to desirable traits providing a toolkit for researchers worldwide were developed at JIC. Recent research characterising a gene that controls how chromosomes pair will now enable the introduction of new characters into cereal crops.

Antibiotic research

JIC pioneered the genome sequencing of Streptomyces. These soil microbes are the source of most of our antibiotics and other drugs used in human and veterinary medicine including anti-cancer drugs. Building on this ground breaking research JIC is now searching for new antibiotics to combat superbugs such as MRSA and C. difficile.

At a recent public event speakers gave short presentations supporting each of the 5 achievements listed above, and these are now available to watch to help you decide.

Contacts
JIC and TSL press office:
Zoe Dunford, Tel: 01603 255111, email: zoe.dunford@jic.ac.uk
Andrew Chapple, Tel: 01603 251490, email: andrew.chapple@jic.ac.uk

About the ranking
Data published by Times Higher Education, analysed the average number of times JIC and TSL research papers were cited by other scientists. This is a measure of the impact that science has in the wider research community.

JIC and TSL published 1,134 papers in the area of plant and animal science, from January 1999 to December 2009. These papers were cited over 42,000 times in other research papers, which is an average of 32.43 citations per paper. This figure, a measure of the impact, is higher than any other institution in the world.

About the John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre, www.jic.ac.uk, is an independent, world-leading research centre in plant and microbial sciences with over 500 staff. JIC is based on Norwich Research Park and carries out high quality fundamental, strategic and applied research to understand how plants and microbes work at the molecular, cellular and genetic levels. The JIC also trains scientists and students, collaborates with many other research laboratories and communicates its science to end-users and the general public. The JIC is grant aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).