Earlham Institute

Be part of a supportive and engaged community of #singlecell and #spatial scientists! 🧬💻🔎

Early-bird registration is open for the Norwich Single-Cell and Spatial Symposium!

Discover the latest methods across diverse living systems. 🌱🧠🐟️

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@uniofeastanglia.bsky.social #EISingleCell26

Prof David Richardson from @biouea.bsky.social has been the senior researcher on a study that has uncovered a hidden link between gut health and the immune system – all thanks to a tiny island bird.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4cIV4vs

#ResearchMatters #NewStudy #GutHealth

🧵 New paper!

How does the immune system shape the gut microbiome in wild animals?

We studied the Seychelles warbler using shotgun metagenomics to test how variation in MHC genes (key immune genes) influences both the taxonomy and function of gut microbes.

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Here’s what we found 👇

Island birds reveal surprising link between immunity and gut bacteria - Quadram Institute Scientists have uncovered a hidden link between gut health and the immune system – thanks to the Seychelles warbler, a small songbird found on Cousin Island in the Seychelles

🆕Scientists have uncovered a hidden link between gut health and the immune system – all thanks to a tiny island bird 🐦️

@uniofeastanglia.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social @bioinf.bsky.social

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🗓️ Our next course is on Eukaryotic Genome Annotation in April.

Take a look at all our events and training here: www.earlham.ac.uk/events

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Automation and #EngBio in Plant & Microbial Sciences this week, showcasing the role of #Biofoundries in high-throughput experiments.

An exciting new paper from our very own @chuenlee.bsky.social: "How does the immune system shape the gut microbiome in wild animals?"

Well done, Chuen!
#UEAScience

Applications for EPSRC Prosperity Partnerships 2027 now open.
 
This is an exciting opportunity for academia-industry collaboration on ambitious research that aims to create long-term prosperity for the UK.
 
More on how to apply, and join our webinar on 19 March: www.ukri.org/opportunity/...

BiPS Summer Studentship Host Labs 2026 – Black in Plant Science Project title: Hybridisation in Papua New GuineaProject Supervisor: Catherine KidnerHost Lab: Biodiversity Genomics and Analytics, RBGEInstitution: Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh

Applications are open for a @blackinplantsci.bsky.social Summer Studentship to work with @sarah-guiziou.bsky.social on building and testing #engineered #DNA recorders for plant cell lineage tracing in Arabidopsis thaliana.
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#enbio

Future Leaders Fellowships: round 11 Funding to support ambitious research and innovation across UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s remit. You must be a researcher or innovator who is looking to establish or transition to independence.

Interested in the Future Leaders Fellowship Scheme?

Join our upcoming webinars to learn more about the scheme, application process and what support is available.

24 March: webinar for host organisations
26 March: webinar for applicants

Register via the ‘additional information’ section ⬇️

BioFAIR Showcase 2026 - BioFAIR We are delighted to invite you to our inaugural BioFAIR Showcase. Join us for a two-day in-person event bringing together researchers, infrastructure leaders, service providers and the wider community...

FAIR data matters — but where do you start?

Join the inaugural BioFAIR Showcase to:
- Explore emerging services that support research teams
- See demos that simplify data management
- Connect with collaborators & infrastructure providers

📣 Register your interest: biofair.uk/biofair-annu...

This annual meeting brings together researchers applying single-cell genomics across the tree of life and aims to foster new collaborations & community support, with a wide range of talks including:

🦠 #microbe-host interface
🌱 plant-microbe interactions
🧠 disease states at single cell resolution

Norwich Single-Cell and Spatial Symposium 2026 Bringing together the international single-cell and spatial community for a two-day discussion across model and non-model systems.

💬 “The symposium has always been a space for early career researchers to present early work, and for people to present preliminary findings."

Early-bird tickets and abstract submissions are currently open to join our #SingleCell and #Spatial Symposium in July.

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💻🧬

Single-cell Long-read Bioinformatics: from Data Generation to Visualisation Hands on training in long‑read single‑cell RNA‑seq, from experimental design to data interpretation

New for 2026, register your interest for our course 'Single-cell long-read bioinformatics: from data generation to visualisation', providing comprehensive end-to-end training on how to perform and analyse data from #longread #singlecell #RNA-seq experiments.

📅 17-19 November 2026

How do RNA molecules shape genome regulation in the nervous system? (AKAY_U26CASE) | Doctoral Training Partnership This is open to Home Fee Status candidates only. This PhD project will investigate how RNA modifications influence the activity of topoisomerase I (TOP1), a crucial enzyme that regulates DNA…

PhD position in our lab - 4-year funded by BBSRC and @nrpdtp.bsky.social in collaboration with @earlhaminst.bsky.social and Inspiralis Ltd. Open to UK fee qualifying students - UK citizens and citizens of Ireland (residency requirement), etc biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/how...

Year in industry student Poppy Leslie is presenting her great work on the evolution of wheat-infecting root fungi, check it out at poster 47! 🌾🍄 #CMINorwich26
@earlhaminst.bsky.social @norwichmicro.bsky.social @dsw-isp.bsky.social @mcmullan0.bsky.social

Sally Warring presents a new initiative to carry out single cell genome sequencing of uncultured protists from the environment ⁦‪@earlhaminst.bsky.social ‬⁩ #CMINorwich26

How single-cell genomics is unmasking the hidden diversity of protists From giant kelp forests to the microscopic parasites in a single drop of water, protists represent the vast bulk of eukaryotic phylogenetic diversity.

Speaking today at #CMINorwich26 with @norwichmicro.bsky.social Dr Sally Warring will be sharing the weird and wonderful world of #protists!

Sally's current research focuses on developing high-throughput #singlecell methods for sequencing protists directly from environmental samples.

Mark Webber opens the Centre for Microbial Interactions Annual Conference at Norwich Research Park @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social @quadraminstitute.bsky.social @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social #CMINorwich26

#Microbial research at Earlham Institute is applying data-driven biology to reveal the hidden diversity of microbial life—from #protists, soil, and #fungi, to communities in our gut—we're working to deepen our understanding of how these complex dynamics shape our health, food, and environment.

The two-day showcase demonstrates and connects the diverse expertise and research community of microbial science taking place across the park, including at Earlham Institute, @quadraminstitute.bsky.social, @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social, @johninnescentre.bsky.social, and @thesainsburylab.bsky.social.

🦠 Today and tomorrow microbial researchers from across the Norwich Research Park and beyond gather for the Centre for Microbial Interactions conference.

@norwichmicro.bsky.social #CMINorwich26

Engineering Synthetic Plant Chromosomes (synPACs) Advances in synthetic genomics have opened new pathways for engineering biology, enabling the rapid design and construction of biological systems at scale for innovative applications and to address fu...

The project initially focuses on potatoes, a globally important crop, with the goal of developing technology pipelines to fast-track #plantengineering.

Find out more here - www.earlham.ac.uk/research-pro...

@cgrandel.bsky.social @conradn.bsky.social

During the visit, Programme Director Angie Burnett and Technical Specialist Fabrizio Ticchiarelli-Marjot explored the #automation and #engineering capabilities in the Earlham #Biofoundry, and plant natural products and metabolomics platform expertise at John Innes Centre.

Last week we were delighted to welcome the @aria-research.bsky.social #Synthetic #Plants team to the Earlham Institute and @johninnescentre.bsky.social to discuss the latest on our ARIA-funded project with @uommib.bsky.social, engineering synthetic plant chromosomes (synPACs).

Join @parker-aim.bsky.social and other experts across the Norwich Research Park in this great course on Histology for Spatial Transcriptomics ⤵️

Sharing our own experience with #spatial platforms, this course will help you:

🔬 Understand theory of fixation, dehydration, embedding and sectioning
🥼 Gain hands-on experience in handling samples for spatial
🤔 Know how to troubleshoot challenging samples

📅 17 June 2026
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In this new workshop, we're bringing together #spatial and #histology expertise to troubleshoot sample preparation methods that span different species and tissue types, with researchers from Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, and @quadraminstitute.bsky.social.

#Spatialtranscriptomics is a powerful tool to analyse gene expression at a cellular level, with increasing studies in multiple systems.

But traditional histology techniques can focus on the morphology of a sample, often without consideration of maintaining high-quality RNA for secondary analysis.

Thanks to everyone who joined us at the @dsw-isp.bsky.social annual meeting today! From tackling wheat diseases to investigating the building blocks of plant growth, the event has been full of engaging discussion. To find out more about Delivering Sustainable Wheat, visit jic.link/DSW