I graduated in Chemistry in 1978 and received my Ph.D. in Chemistry by the University of Valencia (UV) in 1984, with the work “Study of the pteridines and quinolines from Drosophila melanogaster eyes”, which was carried out in both the Dep. of Genetics of the UV and the Biology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (Tennessee, USA). I did my postdoctoral studies in the Dep. of Reproductive Genetics of the Magee Womens Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) studying inborn errors of pterin metabolism.
I became Professor of Genetics in 2000, and served as Head of the Department of Genetics of the UV for 7 years. Since 1989, I had sabbatical leaves at the University of Hawaii and the Univ. of Tenessee (USA), and at Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium). I’m currently Director of the Research Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine of the UV (BIOTECMED).
I published 183 articles and 16 book chapters, with more than 7000 citations, and I have an h-index of 48. I started my scientific career studying the biochemical genetics of eye-pigments in insects. My current research interests are (i) to understand the biochemical and genetic bases of insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins, (ii) to study the mode of action of Bt toxins, and (iii) to find novel Bt strains and insecticidal protein genes for the development of Bt-based insecticides to control agricultural insect pests. Currently, I’m a member of the International Society for Invertebrate Pathology and the Spanish Society of Applied Entomology. I’m the inventor of four patents, two national on new bioinsecticides and two international on resistance management with transgenic plants that express Bacillus thuringiensis proteins, which were exploited for several years. In 2016 I received the “Award Research and Development” in the frame of the XXI Edition of Awards UV-Society.
