Dr Mark Loftus (Sylvan Spawn Company)

In this podcast Dr Jenny Ekman chats to Dr Mark Loftus from Sylvan Spawn company.

Mark’s career commenced in Manchester, UK, where he obtained a PhD and then completed a two-year post doc in human genetics.

So how did Mark go from human to mushroom geneticist? What is mushroom genetics anyway, and how can understanding mushroom genetics help strengthen the industry? 

In this fascinating discussion, Mark explains the very hard work behind identifying mushroom markers, isolating genetically distinct strains (no kissing cousins here!) and the characteristics they are looking for in white and brown mushrooms.