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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Sep 4

On behalf of Plant Biotechnology Journal, very happy to support this meeting. I attended Plastid Preview meetings as an ECR (quite some time ago!) and they are vibrant and productive events.

The Pallavi Singh Lab @thepallavisinghlab.bsky.social · Sep 1

🌿 A big thank you to Plant Biotechnology Journal for sponsoring the Poster Session at #PlastidPreview2025! 🧬✨
Your support helps early career researchers share their exciting work and spark new collaborations.

@sebiology.bsky.social
@johnathan-n.bsky.social

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Jul 31

Great to see our collaborative study with Ed Cahoon and colleagues on the front cover of PBJ, describing our successful efforts to engineer the accumulation of astaxanthin in GM camelina seeds. Astaxanthin is a ketocarotenoid that is a powerful antioxidant & used in aquaculture feeds as a pigment.

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Jun 6

In a great collaboration led by Ed Cahoon at UNL we engineered Camelina to make the pigment astaxanthin. We used genes from the Adonis plant - picture below gives a clue why! Successfully field trialled in UK & USA. Helping to make aquaculure more sustainable. www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/camelin...

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Jun 5

It was a pleasure to be part of the team that delivered this study, led by colleagues at Malaga (and including Noemi Ruiz Lopez who used to work on our omega-3 project). @rothamsted.bsky.social contributed with our world-class lipidomics capability, delivered by @lvm.bsky.social and Richard Haslam.

Rothamsted Research @rothamsted.bsky.social · Jun 3

An international collaborative study has identified a new molecular mechanism that plants utilize to survive under conditions of continuous stress by recycling signalling molecules @ihsmumacsic.bsky.social🌱🌧️☀️
Read the full story 👇
www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/recycli...

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · May 26

In addition to our big 4000m2 GM camelina trial at Suffolk, last week we also sowed some smaller plots on the @rothamsted.bsky.social Farm in Harpenden. This trial has a range of traits & combines GE with GM approaches. Nice pics by Lihua Han of the ISPG GM field trial team & site. Blue skies too!

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · May 25

I have no idea what this Nat Plants Editorial is advocating for. Saying '..its a very complicated issue' is pretty feeble. But a wider question should be 'why aren't more people doing field trials'? Aren't they interested in seeing if stuff works in the real world? Or is that someone else's job?

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · May 19

Another GM camelina field trial successfully drilled this Saturday, under the azure skies of Suffolk. The @rothamsted.bsky.social Farm team of Mark, Samuil & Lewis did a great job in the hot & dusty conditions, but that's what testing in the real world is like. Thx also to Lihua Han for pix.

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · May 4

Important and impactful data from a joint study using our GM camelina oil. Great collaboration with University of Stirling, BioMar & NTNU in Norway. Our novel oil really works as a sustainable replacement for fish oil - exciting to see this confirmed again!
www.fishfarmingexpert.com/fish-welfare...

Same weight, more omega-3: rainbow trout thrive on GM camelina oil

A diet containing omega-3 and astaxanthin that were both derived from the same genetically modified ...

www.fishfarmingexpert.com

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Apr 24

Very happy to have contributed to this article. It's a topic I am very passionate about. We need to see significantly more translational and impact from all the investments in fundamental research. It is weird that many primary publications claim a big breakthrough, and then, nothing more happens!

Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · Apr 24

📜 Challenges of translating Arabidopsis insights into crops

🧑‍🔬 @cristobaluauy.bsky.social, @hildenelissen.bsky.social, @johnathan-n.bsky.social, et al.

📔 @theplantcell.bsky.social

🔗 academic.oup.com/plcell/advan...

#️⃣ #PlantScience #Agriculture #PlantGMOs #Crops #PlantNGTs #PlantBreeding

Challenges of translating Arabidopsis insights into crops

Abstract. The significance of research conducted on Arabidopsis thaliana cannot be overstated. This focus issue showcases how insights from Arabidopsis hav

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Johnathan Napier

School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences at LJMU @ljmupbs.bsky.social · Apr 9

Thank you to @johnathan-n.bsky.social from @rothamsted.bsky.social for visiting @ljmuofficial.bsky.social today. His talk on #plant #biotechnology showed how to tackle a global problem and develop a solution. Now there are plants producing beneficial oils for the benefit of society

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Mar 9

Here's an update on our camelina transformation pipeline. Because we use a visual marker (DsRed) we can chip the primary transgenic seeds for non-destructive analyses. Compare that with other systems that require extended tissue culture stages, and camelina is a clear winner!

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Mar 5

This should be an exciting session, exploring multiple aspects of translational and predictive biology. @meganlmatthews.bsky.social is the lead organiser and I am happy to provide additional support. Also pleased to acknowledge the support of PBJ for this session. See you all in Antwerp!

Megan L Matthews @meganlmatthews.bsky.social · Feb 26

We have some great talks lined up for this session including Prof. Christine Raines, Dr. Wolfgang Busch, Dr. René Geurts, and Dr. Sanu Shameer!

Abstracts due March 7!

SEBiology @sebiology.bsky.social · Feb 25

Join Jonathan at the #SEBconference in Antwerp.

Book your place now ⬇️
sebiology.org/events/seb-a...

Submit your abstract now ⬇️
sebiology.org/events/seb-a...

Check out our plant sessions ⬇️
sebiology.org/events/seb-a...

More information ⬇️
sebiology.org/events/seb-a...

Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Mar 3

Glad you liked the hamster wheel analogy! It's a pet (!) hate of mine that endless cycles of discovery are given preference over translational efforts to deliver some of actual value and benefit! The utility of academic novelty is grossly overestimated, IMHO.

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Reposted by Johnathan Napier

Rothamsted Research @rothamsted.bsky.social · Feb 27

Rothamsted welcomes latest advance of UK Government Precision Breeding Legislation. "This Act will make life much easier for creators and developers working with precision bred - specifically gene edited - crops" @johnathan-n.bsky.social
Full story: www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothams...

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Feb 22

Here at @rothamsted.bsky.social we are fortunate to have a very large area of GM glasshouse. Here we are growing up enough plants to transform 18 different constructs, optimising the accumulation of EPA&DHA omega-3 fish oils. Camelina is the ideal crop for such an iterative approach.

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Feb 5

www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/rothams...
Great that so many @rothamsted.bsky.social people contributed to making this event a success, interacting with MPs & policy makers. Also almost certainly the first time anyone has brought gene edited seeds in the House of Commons!

Rothamsted science showcased in UK Parliament | Rothamsted Research

Research staff involved in exhibits and events for Agri-science Week

www.rothamsted.ac.uk

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Jan 22

I don't get into the lab much (to the immense relief of everyone else!) but this afternoon I was screening some of our high Omega-3 lines for the presence of the DsRed marker - this event is homozygous & stable, making lots of EPA after growing in the field last year. That's a success!!

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Dec 23

Happy Holidays! Here's a rather unseasonal pic from the garden today. I always associated Primulas with Easter, but climate change has altered all that (and not in a good way).

Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Dec 12

Just because it is the festive season doesn't mean we stop our experiments - lots of GM and GE camelina plants growing in our glasshouses. Happy Holidays!

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Reposted by Johnathan Napier

Science for Sustainable Agriculture (SSA) @scisustag.bsky.social · Dec 6

An investigation by SSA into a recent UK Govt report charting further declines in farmland bird numbers in Britain raises serious questions about the scientific basis on which these statistics are collected and interpreted.

Find out more 👇
www.scienceforsustainableagriculture.com/buttonpearsa...

ButtonPearsallRidley | SSA

Are Defra Ministers being misled by campaigning NGOs over farmland bird numbers?

www.scienceforsustainableagriculture.com

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Dec 1

A word about my profile pic (with the 'nice to see you.' strapline, appropriate for Bsky!) - I took this photo in May in Bedminster, Bristol, when I was part of a panel discussing food security (in a pub!). I lived & worked in Bristol for 12 years, and it's where my omega-3 project was born.

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Nov 19

Since everyone seems to be joining the Bluesky community, here's a photo of my GM field trial under what passes for a blue sky in the UK. As a research community, we need to do more experiments in the field, especially if we are making claims about potential impacts etc. Just go outside!

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Nov 3

Why the regulation of gene editing in the UK needs to be fully enabling for both crops and farmed animals.
www.theguardian.com/science/2024...

Scientists dismayed as UK ministers clear way for gene editing of crops - but not animals

Advocates urge government to allow ‘precision breeding’ to combat disease, but RSPCA warns of ethical dangers

www.theguardian.com

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Oct 1

Great to see the UK's new Labour government commit to enabling the Precision Breeding Act (2023) - this will make the regulatory path to market for GE crops much clearer and straightforward. An excellent first step in building a GE&GM-based bioeconomy.
www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/uk-gove...

UK government commits to implementation of Precision Breeding Act | Rothamsted Research

Move could lead to increased research and greater investment in new genetic technologies

www.rothamsted.ac.uk

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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · Sep 11

Colour my Life.
GM Camelina seeds engineered with different traits, including ketocarotenoids and betalain. Using metabolic engineering to do something useful doesn't mean it can't look great too!

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