Earlham Institute
LightNews LightNews
banner
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Earlham Institute
@earlhaminst.bsky.social
1.9K followers 690 following 620 posts
A hub of #lifescience research, training, and innovation focused on understanding the natural world through the lens of #genomics.

📍 Norwich, UK
🔗 earlham.ac.uk
Posts Replies Media Videos
earlhaminst.bsky.social
A fantastic talk from @andrewmillar.bsky.social for our Dame Janet Thornton Lecture - some fascinating considerations and insights across science and societal impact, refocusing research questions, and the urgent pull factors beyond the lab presented by global threats.

@neilhall.bsky.social
Prof Andrew Millar introducing his talk, focusing on Prof Dame Janet Thornton's impact in bioinformatics and data science.
November 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Our #synbio #engbio colleagues head to London today for Synthetic Biology UK 2025 with @biochemsoc.bsky.social.

Catch Group Leader @sarah-guiziou.bsky.social tomorrow for her talk and early-career panel session!
buff.ly/U7lDpNP

@biochemsoc.bsky.social
Digital graphic promoting the Earlham Institute at SynBio UK 2025. A collage of pictures showing scientists Sarah Guiziou, Erica Hawkins, Davide Annese, Zhengao Di, Roza Bilas, and Elena Garcia Perez.
November 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Applications are open for our 2026 #PhD programme at the Earlham Institute.

Discover the projects available across crop and fungi #genomics, cell biology, human health, and #engineeringbiology.

👉 buff.ly/YdDXoSd
November 7, 2025 at 12:01 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Some spooky #spatial images today.... 🎃 💀 👻

EI scientists Ashleigh and Daniella from our #singlecell team captured these skull-like apparitions (naturally occurring in the vascular bundle of leaves) while working with Alloteropsis samples on a collaboration with @marjorielundgren.bsky.social.
Spatially resolved image of a 10 µm (micron) cross-section through a Alloteropsis semialata leaf, in shades of grey and black. 10 µm (micron) cross-section through a Alloteropsis semialata leaf in luminous blue on a black background. Close up image of a 10 µm (micron) cross-section through a Alloteropsis semialata leaf
October 31, 2025 at 10:02 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Yesterday we were delighted to welcome Prof Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of
@ukri.org, with BBSRC colleagues to the Earlham Institute and #NorwichResearchPark to learn about our data-driven science to accelerate solutions for health, biodiversity, and food security.

#datascience #engbio #genomics
Prof Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UK Research and Innovation in the labs at Earlham Institute Prof Sir Ian Chapman tours the lab facilities at Earlham Institute Prof Sir Ian Chapman, UKRI CEO with Prof Neil Hall, Director of Earlham Institute Senior Research Assistant Ashleigh Lister demonstrates Earlham Institute's spatial transcriptomic platforms
October 24, 2025 at 8:05 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
A great morning of talks at our annual #EIInnovate event. Speakers this morning showcased the impact of bringing together #industry and academia to deliver innovations from research, and the role of partnerships in developing #earlycareer scientists.

#genomics #agritech #healthtech
Head of Business Development and Impact Dr Liliya Serazetdinova Jamie Pike, KTP Associate with Tozer Seeds Philip Zegerman and Georgie Oatley from Tropic Helena Saunders, Head of Bioinformatics Research at Syngenta
October 15, 2025 at 12:08 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
📣 Applications have just opened for our 2026 #PhD programme as part of the @nrpdtp.bsky.social and @aries-dtp.bsky.social!

Begin your academic career with the expert scientists, technology, and facilities at the Earlham Institute in Norwich.

buff.ly/327FNrX

#genomics #findaphd #AcademicSky
October 13, 2025 at 8:23 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
It was great to join colleagues across the Earlham Institute, @thesainsburylab.bsky.social, and @johninnescentre.bsky.social for the NBI Accessible Science Talks, bringing together scientific and support staff for a day of accessible science talks!

#NBIAST2025 #sciencetalks
Senior Research Assistant Ashleigh Lister presents her work in spatial transcriptomics Senior Research Assistant Ashleigh Lister presents her work in spatial transcriptomics Dr Darren Heavens presents insights from his career in genomics and sequencing Dr Darren Heavens presents insights from his career in genomics and sequencing
October 9, 2025 at 10:02 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
As global food demand rises rapidly, four major multi-national companies - BASF, Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta - visited the #NorwichResearchPark to discuss the urgent need for organisations to collaborate and develop solutions for #sustainable #agriculture.

Read more here - buff.ly/0MPSYxH
October 8, 2025 at 11:15 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
At the Earlham Institute Drs @rowenahill.bsky.social and @mcmullan0.bsky.social are working with @rothamsted.bsky.social to answer fundamental questions in the evolution of plant pathogens.
Postdoctoral Researcher Rowena Hill
October 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
One of those is Gaeumannomyces tritici, a soil-borne fungus that causes wheat take-all.

Take-all is one of the most serious pathogens of wheat, affecting half of UK #wheat #crops and leading to average yield losses of up to 20%. 🌾
A wheat root affected by take-all. Image licensed by Shutterstock.
October 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
🍄 Today marks #UKFungusDay where we get to celebrate the weird and wonderful kingdom of Fungi.

As well as being fundamental to a healthy ecosystem, and often fascinating to spot, #Fungi can be devastating to plant and animal populations.
A common bracket fungus on the side of a tree Xylaria fungus growing out of a tree stump Small cap mushrooms surrounded by fallen leaves and grass in a woodland
October 4, 2025 at 12:00 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
💬 "This course provided me great detail of general aspects that are crucial to understanding #metagenomics covering technical aspects of the use of #ONT platform and interface."

Keen to learn about lab and in-field @nanoporetech.com metagenomics?
👉 buff.ly/tCB0Zeu

#MAGS #nanopore #eDNA 🧬💻
Dr Darren Heavens leads course delegates in the lab practicals during the nanopore metagenomics course. Dr Richard Leggett guides participants through the data analysis and visualisation sessions. Nanopore Metagenomics course attendant during one of the lab practicals at the Earlham Institute.
September 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
💬 “This award will not only scale up our capacity to undertake spatial science, but is also a testament to the hard work of the team over the last two years in developing expertise that can support cutting-edge research across both model and non-model systems.”

@whatchamacaulay.bsky.social
Scientist works at a computer screen, part of the Vizgen platform. The screen displays the Vizgen logo.
September 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Since the installation of the first Vizgen platform at EI in 2023, our scientists have developed significant expertise in applying these techniques in both mammalian and plant systems, and this new system will increase our ability to address fundamental questions in cellular behaviour.
Senior Research Assistant Ashleigh Lister leads a training course on spatial transcriptomics demonstrating the Vizgen Merscope
September 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Fantastic to welcome researchers for another Norwich #Nanopore Day at the Earlham Institute - bringing together the research community using @nanoporetech.com! 🧬
The EI Advanced Training team welcome delegates to the Earlham Institute for Norwich Nanopore Day. Attendees networking during a break in the atrium of the Earlham Institute Attendees networking during a break in the atrium of the Earlham Institute Attendees networking during a break in the atrium of the Earlham Institute
September 18, 2025 at 3:05 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
📣 We're recruiting for a new Group Leader in #EngineeringBiology.

You'll join a highly collaborative and multi-disciplinary Research Faculty alongside leading expertise and capabilities from our Technology Platforms.

Find out more here: buff.ly/6wlYO9d

#EngBio #SynBio #bioengineering
Colleagues from the Institute network during a poster session at our recent science symposium. Photo taken from above looking down at a series of poster boards in a long zig-zag layout with people standing all around them. People sitting at curved white desks in our training suite during a recent training course. Biofoundry Technician Erica Hawkins in the Earlham Biofoundry, she wears a white lab coat with the Earlham Institute logo on, and bright green protective gloves.
July 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Today at #ISMBECCB2025 @nsoranzo.bsky.social - Galaxy Development Officer at the Earlham Institute and Technical Coordinator for @elixiruknode.org - is at Poster B-113 supporting environmentally-responsible computational workflows at scale.

#ISMB 🖥️ 🧬
Poster from Nicola Soranzo during Poster Session B in Bioinformatics Open Source Conference, titled: "Enhancing sustainability in workflow execution: improving job caching and meta-scheduling in Galaxy".
July 22, 2025 at 8:01 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Today at #ISMB check out EI Scientists' talks and posters throughout the day!

🗺️ Lichen cell atlases with Ellen
💻 Single-cell analysis pipelines with Huihai (A-088)
🧬 Ultra #longreads with Graham (A-536)

Also catch up with colleagues from @elixiruknode.org and @biofair.bsky.social.

#ISMBECCB2025
Talk from Ellen Cameron at 12.20pm titled: "Lichen Cell Atlas: tools for exploring photosymbiotic associations." During the Bioinformatics in the UK track. Poster by Graham Etherington during Session A titled: "Characterisation of structural variants in a diversity panel through low coverage ultra long-reads sequencing". Poster reference A-536 during Variant Interpretation Session. Poster by Huihai Wu titled: "Full-spectrum pipelines for single-cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis." Poster reference A-088 during Bioinformatics Open Source Conference Session. Poster from Tony Burdett, Director of Biofair during Poster Session A on Monday 21 July. Titled: BioFAIR Pathfinders: driving adoption of FAIR solutions in UK life sciences. Poster reference is A-516. You can also visit the ELIXIR-UK and BioFAIR-UK stands in the Exhibitor Zone at Booths 15 and 16.
July 21, 2025 at 8:01 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
A great week-long summer school on #longread #bioinformatics with the @longtrec.bsky.social Doctoral Network!

LongTREC brings together scientists from across Europe to train the next generation of #computationalbiologists to develop novel applications from #transcriptomic data. 🖥️🧬
longtrec.eu
July 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
💬 “By looking for genes with specialised functions and different expression levels we can begin to disentangle how the fungi and algae interact and form these symbiotic associations." - Ellen

Mapping cellular dynamics with the lichen cell atlas 🌏
buff.ly/b0LmALf
Dr Ellen Cameron presents her research on the Lichen Cell Atlas.
July 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Today at #2025ISMPMI PhD researcher @acarolinaolave.bsky.social is presenting her research poster on work with plant biotech company Tropic, characterising immunity in Musa cultivars to identify NLR candidates against #Fusarium oxysporum TR4.

🕜 13:30 - 15:15
📄 Poster No: P-016

#MPMI2025
Carolina stands in front of her poster display at the conference. Her poster is titled: "Building a Musa NLRome to understand bananas."
July 17, 2025 at 9:03 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
💬 “These placements give them an opportunity to experience a career pathway that they might not have considered was an option for them.”

A new article discusses developing the next generation of technical specialists with T-Levels
🔗 buff.ly/KF08OL9
TLevel student Archie working with Oxford Nanopore P2 solo in the genomics labs at Earlham Institute. TLevel students Rosie and Archie at an event last year aimed at introducing school children to advanced science subjects TLevel student Rosie working in the genomics labs at the Earlham Institute wearing a white lab coat and blue safety gloves.
July 17, 2025 at 7:02 AM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Bioinformaticians at the Earlham Institute are developing tools for pangenome #annotation to improve the accuracy and scalability of comparative data analysis.

Read more 👉 buff.ly/jR1MHJX

#pangenome #genomics
Senior Bioinformatician, Gill Reynolds, working with Postdoctoral Researcher Rowena Hill on a pan-annotation of Fusarium.
July 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
earlhaminst.bsky.social
🆕 What's so special about #lichen?

Researchers in the Papatheodorou Group at Earlham Institute are building a #cellatlas to explore the symbiotic relationships of the algae and fungal partners in lichen.

👉 buff.ly/b0LmALf
Macro photograph of common orange lichen, a bright mustard colour, on a branch. Dr Ellen Cameron presenting her work on the Lichen Cell Atlas at our recent science symposium. Unicellular green algae, the algal partner of common orange lichen.
July 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM