Funding opportunities for the Biofortification Hub are open for 2026 🌱🍅 Those working in #Biofortification in the UK in industry, organisations or academia can apply for: • Proof of Concept Awards • Business Interaction Vouchers 🗓️ Deadline: 24 April 2026 @quadraminstitute.bsky.social

Did you know… 🤔 #OnThisDay 100 years ago, William Bateson, first director of the John Innes Horticultural Institution, died on 8th February 1926. Bateson was an important, sometimes controversial figure in the history of genetics. He coined the word “genetics” and Mendel’s theory of heredity 🧬

Fascinating talk by Patrick Cai on synthetic chromosomes and whole genomes- world of possibilities & insights into eukaryotic cell evolution @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Sneak peek!!! @johninnescentre.bsky.social

This time next week you'll be able to find us in the forum for Norwich Science Festival 2026!

🆕 A study from scientists at @johninnescentre.bsky.social and Earlham Institute has applied #singlecell methods to uncover the role of maternal plants in passing on environmental adaptations to their seeds, in the form of plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA). 🌱 Read more 👇 #PlantScience

EVENT - OPEN Friday Seminar - HOPWOOD LECTURE: Prof. Julia Vorholt, ETH Zurich - "Establishing causality: Opportunities of synthetic communities for plant microbiome research" 🗓️ 13 February 2026 ⏰ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm 💻 Register to join online: okt.to/s7xUb5

NEWS: Mum Knows Best – how maternal messages prime seeds for success 🧵 Mothers often guide offspring through the risky stages of early development. This is true for plants too, according to new research from our researchers and colleagues @earlhaminst.bsky.social: www.jic.ac.uk/news/mum-kno... 🌱

At #PMQs today I pressed the Prime Minister to secure a carve out for precision breeding in future EU negotiations. South Norfolk leads the way, from the @earlhaminst.bsky.social to the @johninnescentre.bsky.social. Backing British science means backing our food future.

Great to see our recent study with @johninnescentre.bsky.social make the cover of January's @theplantcell.bsky.social! 🌟 Well done to Ashleigh Lister, Katie Long, and the whole research team from Earlham Institute, JIC, and @vizgen.bsky.social! Check out the paper here: buff.ly/QN57HXG

We made the front cover of @theplantcell.bsky.social! Huge congratulations to co-first authors @katielong.bsky.social and Ashleigh Lister, corresponding author @cristobaluauy.bsky.social and everyone at JIC, @earlhaminst.bsky.social and @vizgen.bsky.social who collaborated on this exciting work 👏

PRESS RELEASE - Sugar beet, oilseed rape, tomatoes and dandelions: precision breeding projects win major funding to support UK agriculture Alongside our industrial and academic partners, we have been awarded UK Government funding to deliver four ambitious projects: www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...

New paper out! i-Motif, not G-quadruplex, stability regulates insulin expression - published in @narjournal.bsky.social Team effort driven by Dr Dilek Guneri supported by Dr Chris Morris, @timcraggs.bsky.social, @yiliangding.bsky.social and Prof Steve Smith academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Congratulations to Tom Lawrenson, winner of the prestigious Genius of the Month award for being an engaging spokesperson. Presenting the breadth of @johninnescentre.bsky.social Precision Breeding outside of his own research area including delivering key organisational messages.

📣 Agenda announced! The second Biofortification Hub Community Meeting "Biofortification: From Science to Society" organised by the University of Aberdeen @rowettinstitute.bsky.social is happening 19 to 20 March. Register for free now ➡️ buff.ly/rjgLjh4 @johninnescentre.bsky.social

✅ Are you aged over 18? ✅ Live within 70 miles of Norwich? ✅Think you might be low in vitamin D? Join the ViTaL-D study and help us understand if @johninnescentre.bsky.social tomatoes biofortified through gene editing could help boost vitamin D levels 🍅 ➡️ buff.ly/cjBMWbj

📢 New plant science textbook Staff and alumni from our institute and @thesainsburylab.bsky.social have recently published Essential Plant Biology, a new textbook presenting current and comprehensive knowledge of plant biology 🌱

@anneosbourn.bsky.social (from @johninnescentre.bsky.social) is today’s @led3hub.bsky.social seminar speaker on Harnessing plant metabolic diversity for food and health applications #NaturalProducts

We are very happy that @anneosbourn.bsky.social from the @johninnescentre.bsky.social visited us today for a LED3 Lecture. She talked about "Harnessing plant metabolic diversity for food and health applications". #Plants #NaturalProducts #GeneClusters #DrugDiscovery #ChemBio #ChemSky #Food #Health

It's an amazing collection! Here are some chromosomes 🧬

Calling all teachers!!! This one's for you guys. Come and get inspired at this FREE event all about science education. 🤫You can even apply for a grant to help with supply cover, so you can attend. 🧑‍🔬🧪

Spotted our very own @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social, @turchil.bsky.social and @vgeshkovski.bsky.social going through the JIC Historic Collections 👀 A wonderful resource well worth a visit! 📖🌷

EVENT - Norfolk Science Teaching Conference 🗓️ 2 March 2026 ⏰ 9:00am - 12:30pm Join us for this FREE event featuring hands-on workshops, useful resources and inspirational talks designed to enhance your science teaching Find out more and apply: www.jic.ac.uk/event/norfol... @sawtrust.bsky.social

We recently ran our second intro event for colleagues from across the JIC and Norwich Research Park to come and explore our Historic Collections 📖🔬 If you‘re interested in arranging a visit, you can learn more on our website now: www.jic.ac.uk/research-imp...

Congratulations, Dr @hsuanpai.bsky.social! Well done! 🥳🥳🥳 Thanks for the invitation, @kamounlab.bsky.social. It is always nice to discuss science with friends and colleagues @thesainsburylab.bsky.social, @johninnescentre.bsky.social and @earlhaminst.bsky.social

Great to be here in London as part of the BBSRC 'Accelerating impact in diet & health' impact showcase. We will be talking about the omega-3 tomatoes we have developed in collaboration with colleagues at @johninnescentre.bsky.social

(1/2) How can plants store a 'memory' of winter? With a new technique called SlimVar, which can track microscopic single molecules moving inside plant roots, much deeper than traditional microscopes, researchers can now answer this. www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Great news for the Australians! Purple tomatoes, enriched in beneficial anthocyanins, developed in Cathie Martin's lab @johninnescentre.bsky.social will be available to consumers in Australia in 2026. www.scimex.org/newsfeed/exp...

This year, we’re thrilled to be taking part in Norwich Science Festival on Thurs 19th February (at @theforumnorwich.bsky.social), to commemorate its 10th anniversary 🧪🎉 So, to celebrate 10 years of Norwich Science Festival, here’s our Top 10 Facts about the JIC 🧵

New for 2026: We're bringing together expertise from across #NorwichResearchPark for a new workshop on Histology for #SpatialTranscriptomics. 📝 Register your interest to hear more! ➡️ buff.ly/UixDjP5 @johninnescentre.bsky.social @quadraminstitute.bsky.social @thesainsburylab.bsky.social

Published in @theplantcell.bsky.social scientists at Earlham Institute and @johninnescentre.bsky.social use #spatial transcriptomics to reveal gene expression patterns in developing #wheat inflorescences. Read more 👉 buff.ly/a5nWTXx #PlantSciences #Genomics

📢 Save the date! 49th New Phytologist Symposium: Biological timing in photosynthetic organisms 📅 24–27 May 2027 📍 @johninnescentre.bsky.social, Norwich, UK www.newphytologist.org/events/49-nps #PlantScience #photoperiodism #chronobiology

New collaborative study led by @ifacisabel.bsky.social and @cristobaluauy.bsky.social, where we developed a new heating system to simulate warmer climates during field trials. This was great fun- check out the summary thread by Isabel Faci, below! @johninnescentre.bsky.social

New year, new goal of getting enough vitamin D 🌞 1 in 5 people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D during winter and spring 📉 Get involved in ViTaL-D to investigate whether @johninnescentre.bsky.social biofortified tomatoes lead to more vitamin D in the blood 🍅 ➡️ buff.ly/2sdniq5

The new textbook Essential Plant Biology, written by @johninnescentre.bsky.social and TSL experts, is now available! 🌱 This richly illustrated textbook is accessible undergraduate biologists and will be a valuable resource for all biology students and teachers 🌿 Full announcement ➡️ buff.ly/AmDw3en

Huge congratulations to Steph Williams from the group for defending her PhD thesis so well and @vanooijenlab.bsky.social @philcarella.bsky.social for examining @williams-steph.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social #chronobiology

VACANCY - We're looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the @philcarella.bsky.social Group, working in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions). okt.to/yIlgTU Closing date - 10 February 2026 Salary - £37,500 - £45,350 Contract - Full-time, 3 years

NEWS - The John Innes Centre and Newcastle University to lead new STEM-EDI training project We are proud to announce a new collaboration which will deliver bespoke STEM-based EDI training, tailored for Higher Education and research institutions: www.jic.ac.uk/news/the-joh...

🆕 Out now in @theplantcell.bsky.social scientists from Earlham Institute and @johninnescentre.bsky.social use #spatial transcriptomics to map the expression of 200 genes across four stages of wheat development, revealing new insights to help boost wheat production. buff.ly/QM6qAWM #genomics 💻🧬

PRESS RELEASE - Innovations in spatial imaging could unlock higher wheat yields Researchers at the John Innes Centre and @earlhaminst.bsky.social are pioneering powerful single-cell visualisation techniques that could unlock higher yields of global wheat 🌾 www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...

📢 APPLY TODAY! Be a part of this exciting next step in #science 🌍 ⬇️ Deadline - 1 February 2026 Salary - Honorarium of £5,000 per annum Contract: 8 – 12 days per year, 3 years For more info and to apply: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/no...

There's still time to apply! We've extended the application deadline to January 30th. Click the link below to apply. sawtrust.org/articles/agr... A FREE day of exploring careers in AgriTech, open to year 12 sixth form students and hosted by industry experts. @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Today we’re celebrating #BrewMonday ☕️ Not #BlueMonday 💙 Whether in-person or virtually, over a Monday matcha in a cafe or with a black coffee on the phone, help to debunk the ‘Blue Monday’ myth by checking in whilst sharing a cuppa with the people around you 🤝 @samaritans.bsky.social

Live within 70 miles of Norwich and think you might be low in vitamin D? 📍 Take part in our study investigating whether tomatoes biofortified through gene editing to be high in vitamin in D can help boost vitamin D levels🌞 @johninnescentre.bsky.social buff.ly/L3PbkUD

Applications closing soon! sawtrust.org/articles/agr... A FREE day of exploring careers in AgriTech, open to year 12 sixth form students and hosted by industry experts. @johninnescentre.bsky.social

The ViTaL-D study team is looking for 76 people at least 18 years old, who live within 70 miles of Norwich and think they might be low in vitamin D to take part in the research study 🌞 ➡️ buff.ly/JsknRSN @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Congrats Saskia! @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social

📣 VACANCY: Non-Executive NGI Programme Board Member Deliver world-class research facilities for our institute and @johninnescentre.bsky.social on the Norwich Research Park. More details below 👇

VACANCY - Non-Executive NGI Programme Board Member 📣 We are seeking an experienced professional to join the Next Generation Infrastructure Board, overseeing the delivery of a c. £400m funded programme to support our Healthy Plants, Healthy People, Healthy Planet (HP3) vision: jic.link/8ku

NEWS - New group leader outlines big, broad, shared vision Dr Chris Whitewoods, a specialist in leaf development, will return to our institute as a tenure track group leader in 2026 🌱👉 www.jic.ac.uk/news/new-gro...