John Innes Centre
scientist examining rice inflorescence.

What JIC does

JIC has two main objectives; we use cutting-edge science to understand how plants and microbes work and we train new scientists. You can read our full mission statement by following this link.

Why is this important?

Plants sustain life on Earth, so understanding how they work is fundamental to understanding our world and to providing opportunities to use plants to our benefit. Similarly, microbes carry out many biological processes that have important implications for humans, for example they cause plant and animal diseases, produce antibiotics and are important in the production and storage of foods.

Creativity and curiosity are two basic human characteristics, so the desire to understand how the world works and to change it are probably as old as humanity. Science is primarily driven, not by the need to solve problems, but by these human characteristics of curiosity and creativity. However, many scientific discoveries both add to what we know about the world and are turned into useful applications. It is true to say that the application of science can both solve and create problems (sometimes at the same time).

What else does JIC do?

We make our discoveries available to society.

We present the findings of our research at scientific conferences and publish them in scientific journals. We also make experimental materials available to other scientists. This feeds the worldwide pool of scientific knowledge and may assist other scientists in developing new ideas and products.

JIC has no remit to make products (eg. new crop plants, foods or pharmaceuticals) from its discoveries, but we do make sure that new knowledge and techniques are made available to those who may be able to develop them into useful products. If we discover something that we believe is of commercial importance we will protect the use of that information/material with a patent or copyright. Use of the patent/copyright may then be licensed to commercial organizations.

We actively engage with society.

It is important that society is made aware of new developments and the direction of scientific progress, in order that, collectively, society is able to decide how science is to be applied. JIC uses several routes to communicate its science to non-specialists.

Further information:

You will find much more information on what we do by following the links below: