Plant Science

Programmes

Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University

The Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, opened in 2011, is made up of 150 scientists, technicians and support staff working at the frontiers of knowledge in plant growth and development, addressing some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.

Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University

Gatsby's largest ever commitment in plant science has funded the building of a new state-of-the-art research institute – the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU). Set within the inspirational grounds of the University’s Botanic Garden, the aim of the Laboratory is to elucidate the regulatory systems underlying plant growth and development.

Plants are the foundation for virtually every ecosystem and agricultural system on Earth. A fundamental understanding of how plants grow and develop is therefore paramount for the long-term security of a sustainable supply of food and other plant products, such as fuel, fibres and building materials.

The study of plant development is being transformed by the new scientific and technical resources becoming available to biologists, including high-throughput DNA sequencing, new imaging methods, increasingly sophisticated genetic tools, and refined chemical interventions. The data derived from these approaches has opened the way for predictive computational models, which are essential for understanding the dynamic, self-organising properties of plants.

We now have an unprecedented opportunity to obtain an integrated understanding of plant development, setting the stage for a new synthesis that will draw on molecular, cellular, whole plant, and population biology to elucidate how plants are constructed. SLCU is establishing a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment that will capitalise on these exciting opportunities.

Research groups

Henrik Jönsson

Director and Professor

Developing computational models describing complex processes at the cellular level

James Locke

Deputy Director and Professor

Understanding how cells respond to environmental signals

Elliot Meyerowitz

Distinguished Research Associate

Investigating how shoot tips produce organs in regular patterns

Madelaine Bartlett

Research Group Leader

The molecular underpinnings of plant diversity: Which genes control the development of plants? And how have these genes changed over the course of evolution?

Alexander Jones

Research Group Leader

Investigating the patterns and dynamics of plant hormones using fluroescent biosensors

Ottoline Leyser

Research Group Leader

Understanding the role of plant hormones, such as auxin, in plant developmental plasticity

Edwige Moyroud

Research Group Leader

Investigating mechanisms that account for pattern formation in petals at the molecular, cellular, biophysical and ecological levels

François Nédélec

Research Group Leader

Studying cell morphogenesis and developmental biology

Katharina Schiessl

Career Development Fellow 

Investigationg how novel plant organs of diverse form and function can be generated

Sebastian Schornack

Research Group Leader

Investigating the symbiotic processes between microbes and plants

Sarah Robinson

Research Group Leader

Investigating how plant development (cell division and cell expansion) is controlled

Renske Vroomans

Career Development Fellow

Investigating long-term processes in plant development using evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) models

Chris Whitewoods

Career Development Fellow 

Understanding how plants pattern themselves in three dimensions