Timothy has a keen interest in space and biology. After having worked as a student in the Research and Development department of Colruyt Group on Vertical farming technology and hydroponics, his ambition to get further into academics grew. In 2020, he graduated as Master of Science in Biology at Ghent University. Following his master thesis, which focused on the a growth-promoting cytochrome P450 78A, he obtained an FWO-grant for a project that builds further on the same topic. His project focuses on unraveling the reaction catalyzed by CYP78A and clarifying its regulatory network, with the aim to acquire knowledge that can lead to the development of applications with beneficial effects on many agricultural crops in a non-GMO manner (e.g. a biostimulant). The project will function as a stepping stone for his future goals, which involve conducting biological research in the context of space.

PSB - Systems biology of Yield

I am a senior Argentinian postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Profs. Dirk Inzé and Hilde Nelissen at the VIB Ugent Center for Plant Systems Biology (PSB) in Belgium. My primary research interest lies in the study of how gene networks shape plant physiological responses and how this information can be translated into trait improvements in maize. I earned a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and did my thesis under the supervision of Prof. Pablo Cerdán in Fundación Instituto Leloir (Buenos Aires). During my PhD i studied the conservation of flowering mechanisms between Arabidopsis thaliana and the forage crop Medicago sativa (alfalfa) in order to improve its biomass quality. I later did a first postdoc in Prof. Marcelo Yanovsky’s lab where i studied the shade avoidance responses of soybean and alfalfa, aiming to create improved yielding varieties suited for high-density cultivation. Presently i work in BREEDIT, a multidisciplinary ERC funded project combining both gene editing and classical breeding aspects in maize with the objective of improving yield and drought resistance in this crop.

My name is Yasmine and I am a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Hilde Nelissen. In 2019, I obtained a master degree in biochemical engineering technology at Ghent University. I carried out my master dissertation in the Crop Genome Engineering Facility of Laurens Pauwels, where I investigated methods to enhance transformation efficiency in maize by using morphogenic regulators. Additionally, I also explored mutagenesis via transgenerational CRISPR-Cas9 activity. Afterwards, I obtained a VLAIO grant to start my PhD in the Bio-Energy and Bio-Aromatics group of Wout Boerjan, in collaboration with an industrial partner. During my doctoral research, I studied the CCR gene family of the lignin pathway to improve biomass processability for animal feed and biofuel production in maize. This involved generating gene-edited maize lines, followed by evaluation under greenhouse and field conditions. In January 2024, I joined the Plant Growth Dynamics lab of Hilde Nelissen to work on the EU-funded BOOSTER project. Our objective is to develop strategies to improve drought tolerance in maize and teff. My role involves bioinformatic analyses and multiplex genome editing to target cis-elements in non-coding genomic regions associated with drought response. My academic training and industrial exposure have provided me with a robust skill set in molecular biology, genome engineering, cell wall analysis, digestibility testing and phenotyping. I am particularly passionate about exploiting these modern breeding methods to accelerate crop improvement and translating these advancements into practical applications through field trials. What I like most about my job is that I’m part of a fantastic scientific community and the ability to work from lab-based research to field experiments.