Peter van Dijk
@peter-van-dijk.bsky.social
Distinguished scientist at KeyGene. Interested in plant breeding systems and the early history of genetics
RIP James Watson (1928–2025). Co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, and a complicated legacy. Crick and Watson first shared the news at The Eagle pub in Cambridge, home of “DNA ale.”
November 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
RIP James Watson (1928–2025). Co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, and a complicated legacy. Crick and Watson first shared the news at The Eagle pub in Cambridge, home of “DNA ale.”
A new bioRxiv preprint reports that a team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has synthesised fully penetrant apomictic hybrid rice — a potential game changer for breeding.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#Apomixis #HybridRice #PlantBreeding #Agriculture
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#Apomixis #HybridRice #PlantBreeding #Agriculture
October 21, 2025 at 10:58 AM
A new bioRxiv preprint reports that a team from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has synthesised fully penetrant apomictic hybrid rice — a potential game changer for breeding.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#Apomixis #HybridRice #PlantBreeding #Agriculture
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#Apomixis #HybridRice #PlantBreeding #Agriculture
Make it happen
October 9, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Make it happen
Just returned from the Apomixis Congress in Montpellier. #Apomixis, clonal seeds, allows one-step fixation of genetically complex traits, including heterosis. So exciting to see the progress. The next apomixis meeting will be in two years in Perugia. Curious to see where the science will be by then.
September 20, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Just returned from the Apomixis Congress in Montpellier. #Apomixis, clonal seeds, allows one-step fixation of genetically complex traits, including heterosis. So exciting to see the progress. The next apomixis meeting will be in two years in Perugia. Curious to see where the science will be by then.
Bringing together the three giants of 19th-century biology with ChatGPT: Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, and Louis Pasteur. Of them, Mendel remains the most enigmatic. Noel Ellis and I are writing a new book exploring his legacy: Mendel’s Genetics: Heredity, Hybrids and History. Expected early 2026.
April 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Bringing together the three giants of 19th-century biology with ChatGPT: Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, and Louis Pasteur. Of them, Mendel remains the most enigmatic. Noel Ellis and I are writing a new book exploring his legacy: Mendel’s Genetics: Heredity, Hybrids and History. Expected early 2026.
Today, Noel Ellis and I submitted the manuscript for our 2025 book Mendel’s Genetics: Hybrids, Heredity, and History to the publisher. Biological insights and new historical sources deepen our understanding of Gregor Mendel in his time.
November 25, 2024 at 11:08 AM
Today, Noel Ellis and I submitted the manuscript for our 2025 book Mendel’s Genetics: Hybrids, Heredity, and History to the publisher. Biological insights and new historical sources deepen our understanding of Gregor Mendel in his time.