2004
Life's a Gas - if you're a plant
This year the JIC exhibit explained how the fundamental importance of plants to life on Earth reflects their success in using gases - as raw materials for growth and energy, and to control their development and reactions to their environment. more information on Chelsea 2004.
Garden Soaps – intimacy, deceit and betrayal in the plant world
The relationships between plants and the pests and diseases that attack them are as complex as those in any TV soap. more information on Chelsea 2003.
Meet the Ancestors (of the past and the future)
This stand showed modern crops, their ancient relatives and some of their future incarnations.more information on Chelsea 2002
Crop Circle Genetics
This exhibit demonstrated how, despite millions of years of evolution and selective breeding, all modern cereals are very similar. Circular maps showed the genetic relationships between modern cereals and their long-extinct ancestors. more information on Chelsea 2001
The Invisible Colours of Flowers
This year JIC scientists explained how the diverse flower shapes and structures we see are determined by invisible patterns that are created early in flower development. Using a mixture of live plants and giant model flowers the JIC’s spectacular display described how important genes are switched on and off, in the young flower bud. more information on Chelsea 2000
Spots, Stripes and Sectors - the biology of beauty
Though we are surrounded by the many and varied colours and patterns of house, garden and wild plants how many people stop to think what is it that makes plants beautiful. This year’s exhibit explained how jumping genes, virus disease infection and bizarre chimeras are common biological causes of the beautiful characteristics we admire in plants.
A Wonderful Weed
Arabidopsis thaliana (commonly known as thale cress), a small weed in the same plant family as mustard and broccoli, was used as the subject of a 'genome project' because it has relatively little genetic material (its 'genome') compared with most other higher plants.
Mendel's Garden Past, Present and Future
Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, was the first geneticist. His work on peas in the 1850s showed how characteristics are inherited and his scientific approach to plant breeding formed the basis for most research on plant genetics carried out today.
