Bioprofiles Ltd - DNA Root Identification and Plant Microsatellite Development Services

About Bioprofiles Ltd.
Bioprofiles Ltd. was established as a spin-out from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in December 2001 by two scientists, Dr. Kirsten Wolff and Dr. Marie Hale The company has close ties with the University and has laboratory and office space on campus
Dr. Kirsten Wolff Dr. Kirsten Wolff's Research Interests Broad research interests in molecular ecology: 1) molecular evolution in plants 2) population structure in general, and in Plantago species in particular 3) use of molecular tools for cultivar identification

Kirsten Wolff was born in the Netherlands, where she obtained a BSc in pharmaceutics in 1974, an MSc in biology in 1982 and a Phd in Population Genetics in 1988, all at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands). In 1988 she was one of the first people in the world using DNA fingerprinting in plants during her postdoctoral position in the USA. Back in the Netherlands DNA fingerprinting of chrysanthemum was the next development. After three years in St Andrews (Scotland) and one year in Switzerland she has been in Newcastle since 1999 were she is now a Reader in Evolutionary Genetics. Funding for research has been obtained from several research councils (over 600k in 5 years), which resulted in 50 papers in highly regarded international journals. The expert knowledge has resulted in a very successful book on DNA fingerprinting in 1993. A second edition of the book “DNA fingerprinting in plants” will appear in 2005. The application of this knowledge and skills can now be utilised in our company.
Dr. Marie Hale Dr. Marie Hale's Research Interests My main interests involve studying evolution at the level of local populations, conservation genetics in general, and molecular evolution in plants. Recent projects include microsatellite evolution in the genus Clusia (Clusiaceae).

Marie Hale lived in Perth (Australia) before arriving in Britain in 2001. She started her University education with a bachelor’s degree in Business (Accounting) at Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia in 1989. From 1989 till 1991 she applied this knowledge working as an auditor for Ernst & Young chartered accountants, Perth office (Western Australia). Work involved auditing a range of businesses from small charities to large multinationals, particularly in the mining and electronic industries. However, University education was taken up again, resulting in a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1994 and a PhD in zoology in 1999 at The University of Western Australia. A big step was made in 2001 by coming to the UK and a wide range of projects was undertaken, fingerprinting plants as well as animals. Marie’s work resulted in a large number of publications in top ranking journals Recently, Arthur Leewis has been appointed as Laboratory manager. Arthur will take care of the day-to-day running of the lab. He has an excellent track record of successfully managing different groups in different environments, ranging from private companies to an IT department in the NHS.

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