We begin the series «Science spaces» by visiting Professor Concha Gómez Mena's laboratory at the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (CSIC-UPV), on the Vera campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
Scientific advances have, for the first time, presented plausible genetic interventions for the directed evolution of humans.
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has awarded Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic editing tools. Lluís Montoliu analyses the journey to this award.
If we want science to play a truly relevant social role, we must take the opposite path and respond with science to the questions and problems of individuals and society. We must treat is as a tool, not as the protagonist.
Twenty-first-century agriculture faces major challenges that urgently need to be answered. In the last decade, new breeding technologies have been developed that can help meet these challenges.
The introduction of CRISPR/Cas gene-editing technology has provided a new approach to crop improvement and offers possibilities for obtaining varieties.
This monograph analyses the possibility of cultivating plants outside our planet Earth; presents advances in genome editing such as those that have allowed my laboratory to obtain seedless tomatoes; assesses strategies that should lead to more plentiful harvests using fewer resources; and explains biotechnological strategies to strengthen plants’ immune systems or to use them as biofactories in which we can harvest molecules of health or nutrition interest. Will that be enough? Will we make it in time?
Communication is essential in all areas of society, but communication in science is inescapable. Communicating means sharing, showing, teaching, and transferring knowledge both to colleagues and to society in general.
We speak with Mojica about the circumstances of his discovery, the following investigations, and present and future applications. We also ask him about the controversy regarding patents, and also how he is experiencing this recognition and attention towards his work.