Michael Jones MA, PhD

Professor Mike Jones is an internationally recognised expert in agricultural biotechnology, the Foundation Director of the WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC), and Professor of Agricultural Biotechnology at Murdoch University. He has developed a series of molecular diagnostic tests for grain farmers that are used to detect Cucumber mosaic virus and anthracnose in lupins. These tests have been made available as commercial tests for over 10 years. He has also pioneered the use of marker-assisted selection for wheat and barley in Western Australia. His current research focuses on molecular plant pathology and transgenic plants – on studying plant viruses at the interface of grain crops and native plants, and on the control of plant parasitic nematodes using synthetic resistance genes. Both of these research areas involve Next Generation genomic sequencing.