Marizanne Horn
Industry Placement: Sensako (Pty) Ltd
Marizanne has a Master’s degree in Plant Breeding from Stellenbosch University.
She joined the CenGen laboratory in January 2018 as an industry placement by Sensako (Pty) Ltd.
She focuses on the integration of molecular genomics work in Sensako’s sunflower breeding programme which was established as part of the company’s drive to diversify into other crops. Marker technologies are used to screen inbred lines for purity, determine genetic diversity and integrate useful traits.
She is also responsible for the genomics aspects of the wheat breeding programmes of Sensako.
Recently, she was tasked with the Regulatory Applications for GMO crops which Sensako obtained in collaboration with Verdeca (Pty) Ltd in Argentina.
Marizanne has attended several bioinformatics courses since joining our laboratory. She says: “The courses have opened my eyes to a new world of handling big datasets. In future, this will be put towards analysing and supplying breeders with useful information.”
In August 2020, Sensako was bought by the multinational company, Syngenta. We are looking forward to build on the good relationships already established through historic collaboration.
