About Eu-Sol
Find out more about this project.
An introduction to the aims of EU-SOL and how we plan to achieve them. Plus read about the organisations and people working on this project.
Dr. Rene Klein Lankhorst
Photographer: Unknown. Copyright free
Organisation: Wageningen University and Research Centre
Job title: Senior scientist
What do you do?
Well, I have a full-time job running the EU-SOL project. As head of the program management office, I am responsible for the daily management of the entire project. This means that I am dealing with reporting, finance, communication, legal affairs, outreach, training, valorisation, and a lot more different stuff on a daily basis. In addition, I also am leader of work package 5.4 of the EU-SOL project, where I am responsible for that part of our research program that deals with sequencing the tomato genome.
My main activity seems to be emailing as the entire project management heavily relies on email and internet. I spend approx. 90% of my time behind my computer, communicating with our project partners all over the world. Since we have partners in different time zones, and since scientists in principle are no “nine-to-five folks”, in the evening my Blackberry takes over so that I stay in touch with everybody as effective as possible.
As leader of work package 5.4, I manage the tomato sequencing projects in EU-SOL. Also, this job gives me the opportunity to write scientific publications about the emerging tomato genome. Another nice aspect of this part of the job is that it takes me to meetings all over the globe to give presentations and lectures about our work.
How did you get involved in the project?
I got involved in the EU-SOL project when the work program was drafted in 2005. At that time I was leader to the Dutch tomato sequencing project which focuses on sequencing tomato chromosome number 6. The EU-SOL program needed a work package on DNA sequencing which I helped drafting. After that, it was as small step to become leader of the entire work package.
DNA sequencing has always fascinated me, and I am especially interested in the development of the technology behind it. When I was a graduate student, we could sequence 500 bases of DNA on a good day. Now we have a machine running on the lab that can produce more than 100 million bases on a single day and that progress is really mind boggling. And this is by far not the end, novel technologies are explored that will allow to sequence the entire human genome in less than half an hour and this probably will become reality within the next 10 years or so!
Pieces of me
What do you currently have on your bedside table?
I am an absolute fan of Terry Pratchett so there is often a volume of the Disc World series near my bed.
What brings you back to the real world at the end of the day?
I play organ, piano and synthesizers in a rock band called “Waiting for Bruno” and that’s a perfect way to reset your mind! In addition, I bike and I play volleyball to keep the body fit and I play bridge every week to give my mind some extra exercise.
If you weren’t yourself which person (historical or otherwise) would you most like to be?
The Time Traveller, which is the lead character in H.G. Wells’ novel the Time Machine.
What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever received?
That would be a quote from one of my favourite Star Wars movies: “There is no try; just do or not do”.
What’s one exciting thing that has happened to you in the course of your work?
Cloning one of the first plant genes involved in disease resistance. At that time, that still involved articles in national news papers, radio interviews and appearing on national television.
What would be your one desert island luxury?
My iPod with my favourite rock music.
What’s one thing about science you wish the public understood better?
We are not playing Frankenstein, but we are trying very hard to safeguard food production for the generations to come.
A friend has just invited themselves to dinner, what will they be getting?
That will be Chili con Carne and some bottles of beer.
If you had a megaphone what would you be shouting from the roof tops?
Wake up and start thinking for yourselves!
What do you think the next big thing will be?
Well, next to the emerging Annual Report of the EU-SOL project: Nuclear fusion.
