One day, a few years ago, a local teacher found something strange in his garden. The story that follows is one of plants, beer, bacteria, insects and ZOMBIES! For this Halloween special edition blog Dr Sam Mugford, research assistant, reveals the strange science of phytoplasmas, a group of plant-infecting bacteria with very peculiar properties, and how he made his own delicious zombie beer…

Rebecca Plater is a Desktop Support Computing Engineer for the Norwich Biosciences Institutes Partnership (the organisation that provides a range of services to the John Innes Centre, Earlham Institute, Quadram Institute and The Sainsbury Laboratory). In this blog, she considers what it takes for an IT support team to be successful and how she supports the world-leading science taking place at the Norwich Research Park.

At our Heritage Open Day this year, Dr Mikhaela Neequaye talked about her research on the scent of flowers. Mikhaela describes herself as a chemical ecologist and studies the evolution and diversification of floral scent.

“Neurodiversity is an important part of organisations, teams and society, and without people that think differently we wouldn’t be as creative, efficient or strategic.” Professor Graham Moore FRS, Director of the John Innes Centre As we observe Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Awareness Month and Dyslexia Awareness Week this October, it’s an opportune moment to...

As a penultimate year architecture student from the University of Leeds, I never imagined that my journey would lead me to a placement at a world-leading research institute specialising in plant science, genetics and microbiology. Yet, here I am, wrapping up a two-month internship with the Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) Programme Office at the John...

Plants are incredible organisms, making up around 80% of all the biomass on Earth. However, despite their abundance, many people just don’t seem to notice plants. Dr Shannon Woodhouse, Education Programme Co-ordinator, explores this phenomenon.   Look at the picture above, what was the first thing you saw? I can guarantee it was Rex the cat and...

On the brick wall beside the entrance to the John Innes Centre reception, there is a white plaque featuring the JIC logo. Underneath the blue squares and name, you will find three words that sum up the mission of the organisation: Unlocking Nature’s Diversity. 

On Monday 29th July, the JIC/TSL Annual Student Science Meeting (ASM) unfolded with a fresh energy, designed by students, for students. Hosted by the John Innes Centre (JIC) and The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) student voices, this event was a unique opportunity for students to display their innovative research in a relaxed and supportive environment.  This...

Recently, we welcomed Aston Saini to the John Innes Centre’s policy team for a three-month internship. Earlier this month, we shared Aston’s  first blog Aston Saini, PIPS placement student – What I’ve learned about scientists engaging with policy makers. In this second  blog we asked Aston  to tell us about his experience of   working at...