Technician @
Crop Genome Engineering Facility
My name is Stijn and I live together with my wife and two sons on a small farm where we keep sheep and grow many crops.
From very young I’m passionate about growing plants. Hence my choice to study Biotechnology after seeing small plants growing in in vitro tubes.
I graduated at the KATHO Roeselare in 2008 with a professional bachelor degree in Biotechnology. Next, I started to work at PSB, first setting up a maize transformation protocol together with my colleague Griet. Once we got it to work, we applied this as a service for in house groups and later other labs and companies within Europe.
Transforming immature maize embryos, subculturing calli, testing small gene-edited plantlets by PCR and sequencing, growing the plants until seeds, and training students are all part of my daily work package.
It is this combination of lab and greenhouse work that I find fascinating in this job!