Marie Vandijck

As a PhD researcher at the Microbiology Research Group (VUB), microbiology has interested me ever since I learned how fundamental human necessities such as bread, beer and cheese are made. This interest grew into a fascination when I learned that microorganisms can even function as whole-cell factories for the production of petrochemical products.  

Industrial biotechnology is becoming increasingly important due to climate change and depletion of earth’s natural resources. Though impressive growth is taking place in this industry, there is still a great need for improvement and breakthroughs. One such advancement is my research project, whereby volumetric productivities of bioproduction can be greatly improved by decoupling growth and production through temperature-responsive gene regulation in a thermophilic bacterium. Both the potential and challenge of this research subject are fascinating to me.