Wageningen, The Netherlands
November 26, 2014
On Friday Nov 21st a group of 90 Plant Biotechnology BSc and MSc students from Wageningen University visited KeyGene for an excursion. Martin de Vos (trait scientist at KeyGene) gave a presentation with a general outline about KeyGene’s technologies and applications and he demonstrated ins and outs of some of the research projects. One of the project concerned whitefly resistance in tomato. Next to this the students got a guided tour along some KeyGene highlights. Read below the impression of some of the students.
Annet Lindhout: ‘I am surprised about the central role of molecular breeding, rather than classical breeding or genetic modification, within KeyGene’. KeyGene explained that genetic modification is a different trajectory to obtain improved crops which KeyGene does not follow. Furthermore she was impressed about the tire which was made from natural rubber from the roots of the dandelion. ‘How is it possible to make a tire out of weed latex?‘, she wondered. Her feedback ended with a striking one-liner about the challenge for this generation of students: ‘sequencing is easy, bioinformatics is harder, but making sense of it is the hardest!’
‘This excursion gave me the opportunity to learn how wide all the possibilities in plant molecular breeding are as well as all the fields KeyGene is specialized in’ said Lucía Campos Dominguez. Next to this she indicated that the students now could see how obtained academic knowledge is applied and developed. About the guided tour: ‘We could see all the internal operations, from outdated (no longer used) techniques to cutting edge technological resources available today. This excursion has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding on how a biotechnology company works and also to appreciate how fast this new “green revolution” is moving’.
Luc Bodinot also shared his thoughts about the excursion: ‘Even though the university offers a wide curriculum of theoretical and practical aspects, it is sometimes unclear as to what one can do with this knowledge. The excursion provided a clear and structural view of how a breeding company functions and how knowledge is applied outside the well-known academic world’. Also Luc was impressed about the use of dandelion for the production of natural rubber: ‘A weed in the eyes of most, yet a promising novel crop for rubber production in the hands of experts’, he said. He ended up with the remark that the visit gave him insight in career perspectives outside academic circles, which is of great help for general career orientation.
KeyGene wishes all students success with the continuation of their study and wants to thank Annet, Lucía and Luc for sharing their impressions.
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