"Approximately six years ago I was watching an episode of De Wereld Draait Door, a Dutch TV program in which researcher René Bernards happened to be a guest that day. When I heard him talk about his research with such passion, That's where I want to work, I thought. At that institute. I applied immediately and without hesitation. I was able to work as a molecular biologist and geneticist in the department headed by Bas van Steensel, my supervisor. There I worked with some very fundamental questions during my PhD research. While all information can be found inside our DNA, not every cell needs all this information. DNA that is not actively used appears to be tucked away a little deeper than the active DNA. The entire process of tucking or folding appears to be rather well-organized by a few proteins. If we deactivate these proteins, we can disrupt the process, causing the DNA to suddenly end up in a different place. I will be working at a company called Genetwister in Wageningen, where I will investigate how we can use genetics to improve certain plant traits."
Tom will defend his thesis on June 28.
This research has been financially supported by Oncode Institute
Prof. dr. B. van Steensel