News from the John Innes Centre

For the second consecutive year, the John Innes Centre celebrated Fascination of Plants Day 2013, with events on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th May. 350 children from 13 Norfolk schools attended over the two days, taking part in the worldwide celebration of plant science and agriculture, with hands on activities and presentations. Visiting school children [...]

For the first time in nearly a century drinkers will be able to taste beer made from Chevallier, the classic heritage barley from the Victorian period. Old varieties are a rich source of new genes, and scientists at the John Innes Centre revived Chevallier from the institute’s Genetic Resources Unit as part of a barley [...]

Following a visit to the Big Bang Fair 2013, the Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts MP has invited the John Innes Centre to take their unique interactive exhibition to Cheltenham Science Festival in June. At the Big Bang Fair in March, the John Innes Centre gave visitors the opportunity to get hands on [...]

  The first DNA sequence data on the ash dieback fungus has been made freely available on crowdsourcing website OpenAshDieBack by scientists receiving major funding for a two-year research project. More sequence will be published online and “live reviewed” as it is generated by multiple research partners led by The Sainsbury Laboratory and The John [...]

Professor Enrico Coen from the John Innes Centre has been awarded €2.5M EU funding to explore the growth and evolution of carnivorous plants. “Carnivorous plants turn the normal order of nature upside down, eating animals instead of being eaten by them,” said Karen Lee, a researcher working on the project at the John Innes Centre. [...]

Why are some leaves curly, others spiky, and others flat? Listen to the recent BBC radio discussion, Forum, in which  John Innes scientist professor Enrico Coen discusses these questions with New York photographer Andrew Zuckerman, and ecology professor Lars Chittka. Bridget Kendall brings together these three experts to ponder some of nature’s mysteries. Enrico Coen [...]

  A project that has already benefited 70 schools and 3000 children across the UK has been showcased in Shanghai’s Xuhui district by Dr Jenni Rant. The SAW (Science, Art and Writing) project was started by JIC’s Professor Anne Osbourn during her sabbatical in 2006. It encourages children to discover new and exciting ways of looking [...]

The roles that new technology and science will play in the future of farming and food production will be discussed at the Norfolk Farming Conference on 21 February. The event, called “The Norfolk Farming Conference Goes Global”, will examine what farmers in our region can learn from the latest scientific research at the John Innes [...]