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The incredible ULK: what bioinformatics can do

Feature | 5 min READ

The incredible ULK: what bioinformatics can do


Bioinformatics can reveal the role of genes in the human body without us even having to don a lab coat. Two such genes, ULK1 and ULK2, may look similar but recent research has shown them to play diverse and important roles in autophagy and disease, among many other things.

  • 06 November 2020
  • Technology
A PhD, is it worth it? Just ask our students

Feature | 5 min READ

A PhD, is it worth it? Just ask our students


From publishing new machine learning algorithms to establishing bioinformatics training programmes in Ghana and giving a talk in the plenary session of an international conference, Earlham Institute students have already achieved a lot during their PhDs.

  • 30 October 2020
  • Learning
Healthy soil is important, but what does it look like?

Feature | 8 min READ

Healthy soil is important, but what does it look like?


Without healthy soils, we’d have precious little food to eat. But this fundamental resource is being eroded by climate change and overuse of agrichemicals. Under severe threat are the communities of microbes which live in and around crops, helping them to thrive, yet we still know precious little about what our treatment of soils is doing to those microorganisms.

  • 21 October 2020
  • Science
Why statistics is important in a world of big data

Feature | 10 min READ

Why statistics is important in a world of big data


From imaging black holes and predicting the weather to discovering genes and tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, statistics helps us understand data so we can make sense of the universe: and make more informed decisions.

  • 16 October 2020
  • Learning
Orphan Crops: the neglected side of food security climate change

Feature | 15 min READ

Orphan Crops: the neglected side of food security climate change


When we speak of food security, we often associate that with staple crops such as wheat, rice and maize. But there’s another side to the picture - one that has been largely neglected. For hundreds of millions of people, ‘orphan crops’ are a vital resource, and one that Earlham Institute’s Dr Jose De Vega and Dr Janet Higgins have been working hard to improve.

  • 15 October 2020
  • Science
What makes a plant killer? Meet the scientists hot on the trail of invading pathogens

Feature | 8 min READ

What makes a plant killer? Meet the scientists hot on the trail of invading pathogens


Most microbes live in and around our crops causing no harm whatsoever, often providing vital nutrients through decomposing organic matter, or symbiosis with plant roots. Yet a sudden event, perhaps just a fateful gust of wind, can turn even the most placid of microbes into a devastating pathogen.

  • 12 October 2020
  • Science
5 ways Earlham Institute is improving global food security

Special Feature | 10 min READ

5 ways Earlham Institute is improving global food security


How can food security be improved? That’s one of the major challenges facing science and society. To feed and nourish a rapidly expanding population, crop yields must increase in the face of the threats posed by climate change and once fertile areas of land must be reinvigorated. However we manage it, it’s vital we protect and enhance the biodiversity on which much of our agricultural system relies.

  • 01 October 2020
  • Science
Chatting Guts: why the microbiome is important

Feature | 15 min READ

Chatting Guts: why the microbiome is important


A healthy gut might well be the key to a long and healthy life. But with trillions of bacteria and hundreds of species of microbe all interacting with your gut in unique and interdependent ways, understanding gut health is a vast and complex challenge.

  • 27 September 2020
  • Science
  • Learning