This year we’ve published 44 blogs covering our research, impact and careers of our scientists, staff and students.

Our researchers have shared the exciting research they’ve been doing as well as what they’ve been up to outside of the lab working with the community and policymakers. We’ve heard from people who have taken part in our human studies too.

So here are our most read blogs published in 2025, by webpage views, covering bioscience explainers and how our researchers have been gaining experience in policy and industry.

The science of how fruit affect blood sugar

There can be confusion around sugar in the diet and how different forms of sugar, such as naturally occurring sugar in fruit, affect our health.

Our most popular blog of the year explores the science of how fruit affect blood sugar.

Using our expertise in the Food and Nutrition National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (F&N NBRI) team, Tobi Adeyeye a visiting nutritional science masters student, answers the question of whether natural sugars affect blood glucose the same way as added sugars.

Our Food and Nutrition team collect, compile and share data about the nutrition of the food we eat in the UK. As well as providing the nutritional information for food labelling, these data underpin research into the links between diet and health at the Quadram Institute and across Europe and beyond.

Is there a brain microbiome?

Our second most viewed blog published this year is our explainer on the lack of evidence for a brain microbiome.

In the blog, our experts Professor Mark Pallen, Dr Falk Hildebrand and Dr Aimee Parker explain that there is no evidence for a brain microbiome. They describe how microbes in the brain represent infection rather than a microbiome, and that contamination can cause false reports of a brain microbiome.

Our blog explaining the lack of evidence for a brain microbiome currently ranks at the top of Google in answering this important question.

What is hidden hunger and how can biofortification help?

Continuing the explainer theme, another of our tops blogs covers what hidden hunger is and how biofortifying our food may be the answer.

Hidden hunger is when the body has enough energy to function but lacks important micronutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and vitamin D among others to maintain good health.

The blog highlights how we’re studying the prevalence of hidden hunger such as through the Zero Hidden Hunger project.

Plus the blog features the ways we’re working across the Norwich Research Park to tackle this public health challenge, such as running the ViTal-D study and jointly hosting the Biofortification Hub.

Our hidden hunger blog was written by our Communication Assistant and the institute’s first apprentice, Clemence Blanchard who joined our Communications team in January.

Eight reasons why you should join the Microbes, Microbiomes and Bioinformatics PhD programme

Another of our top blogs from 2025 is written by Clemence, which highlights benefits of the Microbes, Microbiomes and Bioinformatics Doctoral Training Programme (MMB DTP). 

The blog covers how the MRC-funded microbiology and bioinformatics PhD programme combines impactful research, a beautiful university city setting and vibrant student community.

Applications for the MMB DTP programme are currently open, closing 6 January 2026.

How infant gut microbes could treat cancer

The final of our top blogs is our blog with Dr Chris Price about the potential of using Bifidobacteria to treat cancer and the process of spinning out the company Bioscopic.

Bifidobacterium is a good gut bacteria that promotes health benefits in infants and adults.

Chris reflects on his PhD studying Bifidobacteria and what inspired him to begin translating this research.

Other 2025 blog highlights

Our researchers have been gaining experience outside the lab in other ways too.  PhD student Sam Mellor spent his professional internship placement with the Food Standards Agency, the government agency responsible for food safety and hygiene in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

As well as gaining experience in policy, our PhD students have been inspiring the next generation of scientists through running outreach activities at a local primary school.

Our students have been sharing their science across the institute too. The Quadram Student Forum (QSF) committee shared their reflections on organising a successful annual Student Science Showcase which gave students the opportunity to share their work. Plus the new QSF committee shared their top tips for studying a PhD in Norwich.

Other blog highlights from the year include introducing our new Quadram Institute Early Career Fellows, Dr Andrew Bell who is studying how gut bacteria use sialic acids and Dr Serena Monaco who is seeing the gut microbiome in atomic detail using NMR.

We’ve shared how our researchers have been working with clinicians at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) through our clinical seedcorn projects, to develop a new organ-on-chip system to study vaginal yeast infections, gather data on the gut microbiome in childhood obesity, and uncover the world of microbes on lung catheters to reduce infections.

Our researchers and staff have been collaborating with other organisations to share our science on food, health and microbes. We’ve continued our collaboration with Norwich University of the Arts Illustration course and are part of national public exhibition on the history and nutrition of school meals.

We’ve been sharing and collaborating across the globe too. Our Research Scientist Dr Revathy Krishnamurthi visited the village where she grew up in India to inspire the next generation to discover the world of science

Our researchers have been working with the JIDCuk charity to improve access to global health research and champion equitability of collaborations and we’ve hosted scientists from the Indian research organisation SKAN as part of our ongoing collaboration with them to research potential therapies that alleviate ageing and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

There are many other brilliant blogs we’ve published in 2025 from our staff and students. Thank you to everyone for their contributions.

Many of our blogs published in previous years continue to be very popular too including how to get enough iron and vitamin B12 as a vegetarian or vegan, why do peas cause gas and how is milk digested.

If you have an idea for a blog or a topic you’d like to learn more about get in touch with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, or Threads.