I obtained my master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the Ghent University in 2021. During my thesis I worked in the Pauwels lab on the combination of doubled haploid breeding and multiplex gene editing in maize. Later that year, I joined the group of Dirk Inzé and Hilde Nelissen where I worked on the BREEDIT ERC project, with a focus on genotype-phenotype correlation in multiplex edited maize lines. In 2022, I obtained an FWO PhD fellowship and joined the Pauwels lab again. The main focus of my PhD is to improve regeneration in maize with the goal to expand the number of transformable maize inbred lines, while also developing gene editing strategies.

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.

My research career has focused on the central biological question: How do growth processes determine final plant organ size? Initially, I approached this using molecular biology studying Arabidopsis leaf development. As my interest shifted towards applied research, I redirected my focus to maize. What started as translational research to bring knowledge from Arabidopsis to crops and from the lab to the field, gradually developed into a research line with the goal to decipher the instructor networks that govern leaf size, organ growth and ultimately yield in maize. Because plant organ size control is an important yield component that is also severely impacted by climate change, our ultimate goal is to deepen our understanding of the growth-regulatory networks to enhance our success rate to achieve climate-resilient crops.
 
As lecturer of ‘Plant Research Technologies’ and ‘Plant Yield’ within the Advanced Master in Plant Biotechnology, I get the opportunity to enthuse Master students about the possibilities of plant biotechnology to change agriculture.
 
My team and I set out to create an inclusive atmosphere that stimulates critical thinking, creativity, team work, personal development, job satisfaction, personal fulfillment, mutual respect, scientific transparency and research ethics.