John Innes Centre

History

The John Innes Horticultural Institution was founded in 1910 at Merton Park, Surrey (now London Borough of Merton), with funds bequeathed by John Innes, a merchant and philanthropist. The Institution occupied Innes's former estate at Merton Park until 1945 when it moved to Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire. It moved to its present site in 1967.

John Innes compost was developed by the institution in the 1930s.

In the 1980s, the administration of the John Innes Institute was combined with that of the Plant Breeding Institute (formerly at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire) and the Nitrogen Fixation Laboratory. In 1994, following the relocation of the operations of other two organisations to the Norwich site, the three were merged as the John Innes Centre.

The institute is divided into six departments: Biological Chemistry, Cell & Developmental Biology, Computational & Systems Biology, Crop Genetics, Metabolic Biology and Molecular Microbiology.

JIC has a tradition of training PhD students and post-docs. PhD degrees obtained via JIC are awarded by the University of East Anglia. JIC has a contingent of postdoctoral researchers, many of whom are recruited onto the institute's Post-doctoral Training Fellowship programme. JIC also sponsors seminars and lectures, including the Bateson Lecture and the Biffen Lecture.

Research

The research at JIC is divided into 4 Institute Strategic Programs (ISPs) which are funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) which combine research of multiple groups to address a greater aim:

Affiliations

JIC is also the Norwich base of the Sainsbury Laboratory, an institute focused on plant disease. Although well integrated with JIC, The Sainsbury Laboratory is closely affiliated with the University of East Anglia.

Along with the Institute of Food Research and University of East Anglia (UEA) it hosted the British Science Festival in September 2006.

Directors

The John Innes Centre has been directed by:

Notable Staff and Alumni

Former staff and alumni include William Ormston Backhouse, Rowland Biffen, David Baulcombe, George Coupland, Liam Dolan, David Hopwood, Charles Leonard Huskins, Nicholas Harberd, Richard Anthony Jefferson, Georgii Karpechenko, Kenneth Mather, Elizabeth Anne Edwards, Giles Oldroyd, Leonard Francis La Cour, Alison Mary Smith, Morley Benjamin Crane, Dan Lewis, Cathie Martin, Mike D Gale, Mike Bevan and Clayton Oscar Person. Also Doctor Gordon Mark Leo Haskell who left in about 1958 to become Head of Genetics at the Scottish Crop Research Station, Invergowrie near Dundee until 1965 . He was then Head of Biology at Portsmouth Polytechnic until 1967 when he died suddenly aged 47.

John Innes Foundation

The John Innes Foundation (JIF) is an independent charitable foundation (registered Charity No. 1111527)and was formed in 1910 by John Innes. JIF set up the John Innes Horticultural Institution (JIHI) at Merton, London. Currently, the JIF owns the land and buildings at Newfound Farm, Colney and Church Farm, Bawburgh, Norfolk which are used by researchers from the John Innes Centre. The JIF trustees also play an active part in the management of JIC research and have the right to appoint three members of the Governing Council. They sponsor several graduate studentships each year, support for educational programmes and the infrastructure of the site. They also fund student awards for scientific excellence and science communication. The Foundation owns a very significant collection of archive material held at JIC.

The Special Collection and the History of Genetics Library

The John Innes Centre is home to a collection of rare botanical books, lab books, manuscripts and letters documenting the history of genetics and research carried out by its scientists. This includes a letter from William Bateson documenting the first use of the word "Genetics". The History of Genetics library also contains the archives of the Genetical Society.