Crop Science Centre - Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Uta Paszkowski elected to the German National Academy of Sciences

Uta Paszkowski elected to the German National Academy of Sciences

News
Professor Uta Paszkowski

Professor Uta Paszkowski has been elected a member of the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Uta Paszkowski is the leader of the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Crop Science Centre, and described this achievement as ‘humbling’.

The Leopoldina originated in 1652 as a classical scholarly society and now has 1,600 members from almost all branches of science. In 2008 the Leopoldina was appointed as the German National Academy of Sciences and has two major objectives. The first is to represent the German scientific community internationally, and the second is to provide policymakers and the public with science-based advice.

 

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Giles Oldroyd appointed British Science Festival Section President

Giles Oldroyd appointed British Science Festival Section President

News
Professor Giles Oldroyd

The British Science Association has announced that the Director of the Crop Science Centre, Professor Giles Oldroyd, will be the Agriculture and Food Section President for the British Science Festival 2023.

Section Presidents are nominated for making a significant contribution to their scientific field, and once selected they play a crucial role in shaping the British Science Festival programme each year.

The Agriculture and Food section of the festival will focus on how plants benefit from associations with friendly bacteria and fungi and how this can be used in sustainable agriculture.

The British Science Festival 2023, taking place 7-10 September, hosted by the University of Exeter

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Gizem Çataltepe

Gizem Çataltepe


I received a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Bogazici University in Istanbul and then completed a MSc degree in Environmental Sciences at the same university with a research project focused on the evaluation of mechanisms of increasing soil quality via plant-microbe interactions. Before I moved to the UK in 2021, I lived in Melbourne for one year to work in the role of kinases in plant sugar signalling project. Currently, I am a third year PhD student in the group of Prof. Dr. Uta Paszkowski

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Federico Marangelli

Federico Marangelli


My interest in plant science started early in my career when I was in Spain for an erasmus experience. There I worked in a lab for 6 month where I learned the basis of molecular biology.

My work as a research technichan focused on supporting the strawberry transformations and other actinirrhizal plants. I also help with testing the plants after the transformation.

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Emily Servante

Emily Servante


 I am now a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Paszkowski lab. My research focuses on genetic diversity in arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation and host responsiveness in diverse rice cultivars.

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Nina Foreman

Nina Foreman


I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where I completed my undergrad and postgrad degrees at the University of Cape Town. My PhD research centred on investigating regulation of an auxin biosynthetic gene during the plant salinity stress response. My postdoc project involves screening 150 African rice varieties for a breeding program to identify lines that exhibit enhanced drought tolerance upon mycorrhizal fungal colonisation. Thereafter, we aim to uncover the mechanism by which this occurs.

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Dylan Jones

Dylan Jones


I did my PhD, in plant science at the University of Nottingham, investigating root anatomy in a range of species, with focuses on understanding the vestigialization of duckweed roots, and identifying drought tolerant root traits in pearl millet. I have now joined Uta Paszkowski’s lab, and will be researching arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in cassava.

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

Miguel Ângelo Santos

Miguel Ângelo Santos


Miguel Santos started his career in plant science at the University of Minho where during his masters he performed the characterization of novel SUMO proteases in Arabidopsis thaliana against several abiotic stresses. He then completed his PhD at the John Innes Centre where he studied the susceptibility of several population lines of Brachypodium distachyon against Fusarium root rot and Take-all. He also performed several bioinformatic analyses to understand the genetic response of both Brachypodium and wheat to the Fusarium toxin deoxynivalenol.

Publications

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

New grant to develop COVID vaccine-like technology to revolutionise the study of plant-parasites

New grant to develop COVID vaccine-like technology to revolutionise the study of plant-parasites

News
A Nematode worm

The Leverhulme Trust have awarded Crop Science Centre scientists a grant for developing technology capable of overcoming the resistance of crop-damaging nematode worms to genetic alteration. This technology will be similar to the COVID-19 vaccine, where a special molecule is wrapped in a fatty layer to protect it and make it easier to deliver.

Nematodes are tiny parasitic worms that cause over $100 billion of damage to crops every year. By enabling fundamental research into their biology, this technology could not only help accelerate research into controlling these crop-damaging parasites, but also other genetically ‘hard-to-edit’ species.

Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, who will be leading this research, said “It's like some covid vaccines, where you wrap an mRNA in a lipid nanoparticle. We want to use this technology to deliver CRISPR into the germline of nematodes, thereby editing their sex cells so that their progeny are genome edited.

This will allow us to engage in fundamental research into the role of genes, in this case in nematodes. Understanding which nematode genes are important for parasitism could lead to new ways to control theses parasites in agriculture.”

This research will build on the work of the TransPPN consortium, led by the University of Cambridge, an open global knowledge exchange forum aimed at making the genetic modification of plant-parasitic nematodes a reality.

If successful, the new technology will allow genome editing in the parasitic nematode worms, which could help reveal understanding that has a long-lasting impact on global agriculture. This could be a game-changer, offering a low-cost, simple, and efficient way to edit the genes of pests.

Crop Science Centre

Driven by impact, fuelled by excellence

The Precision Breeding Bill has passed into law

The Precision Breeding Bill has passed into law

News
Professor Giles Oldroyd

On March 23 2023 the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill passed into law. In response to the bill passing, the director of the Crop Science Centre, Professor Giles Oldroyd said “The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill is a crucial development that opens up new possibilities for science and innovation to transform the pace of agricultural research and development. The UK, along with countries around the world, is in a race to climate-proof food systems, and conventional breeding alone cannot keep up with the rapidly changing challenges of new growing conditions.

"Precision breeding through gene editing allows scientists to accelerate what might otherwise be possible through natural processes and conventional breeding over a longer time frame. UK science and research has made extraordinary advances in this field over the last 30 years, and this law expands the remit of scientific exploration, which can only bring benefits." 

Sustainable food production for everyone

The Crop Science Centre is a coalition between the University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences, and NIAB. This coalition focuses on translational research in crops with real-world impact. We combine the diverse skills and expertise of the University and NIAB, providing an environment for research excellence with the capability to apply discoveries to crop improvement in the field.

Our research is interdisciplinary and of global relevance. We strive to improve both staple crops such as maize, wheat and rice, but also the specific crops of relevance to small-holder farmers, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Centre provides leadership in crop sciences, with a creative and dynamic research culture, motivated by improvement of agriculture for the betterment of society.

Our mission

At the Crop Science Centre, we are generating crop plants that deliver sufficient food for everyone in a sustainable way

  • We deliver agricultural impact, using excellence in research
  • We strive for sustainability, reducing agricultural reliance on chemical inputs
  • We foster equality, valuing all members of our research community
  • We believe in equity, ensuring even the world’s poorest farmers can grow enough food

Years of research has provided a deep understanding of how plants function, creating opportunities to transform the way we produce our food.  I am motivated to improve the sustainability and the equity of food production worldwide

Professor Giles Oldroyd,
CSC Director

Professor Giles Oldroyd

“At the Crop Science Centre we have the scientific breadth and track record to rapidly respond to one of the grand challenges of our time: growing enough nutritious food for an increasing population while reducing inputs and green house emissions.”

Professor Mario Caccamo,
CEO and Director of NIAB

Professor Mario Caccamo

“We envisage that new CSC crop technologies will enable higher crop yields and lower environmental impact for crop-based food production – as well as contributing to improved dietary health.”

Sir David Baulcombe,
Royal Society Professor

Sir David Baulcombe