Chemistry and Nature

As the Great Big Green Week (UK) draws to a close, so does EMBL-EBI’s own Sustainability week. The Wellcome Genome Campus held events in the areas of recycling, energy use, and biodiversity. The ChEMBL team was keen to get involved and we developed our own Nature Trail event highlighting some of the bioactive compounds from the flora and fauna found on-site, and elsewhere. Our favourite examples include the sensation of mint and chilli and the glorious smell of rain!

The full Nature Trail can be made available for external Public Engagement events upon request.

Databases, such as ChEMBL, are large stores of structured data, including genetic, biological, and chemistry data for life sciences research. Data on the natural world is often held by wildlife organisations; this can be used to research biodiversity and species decline. Various Citizen Science initiatives mean that everyone can get involved in submitting nature records. So why not join in with the Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count or RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch?

For those of you interested in Green Computing, EMBL-EBI Training has an on-demand webinar tackling this topic, so take a look!

Emma, Fiona and James

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