- The Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP) in Madrid is recognized as ‘Severo Ochoa’ for its excellence in agricultural biotechnology, with nearly 300 employees and 40 research groups, and around its research has created an innovation ecosystem with spin offs like Nawter Discovery or a permanent unit with multinationals like Rovensa
- BIOVEGEN, the Biotechnology Platform dedicated to connecting science and business, fills the center’s auditorium with more than 120 researchers and agribusiness professionals to present their main works ahead of the imminent push from new European regulations in this area
- Fungi to tolerate the abiotic stress of tomatoes or to reduce mycotoxins in corn; bacteria that improve the microbiome or strengthen roots; viruses that reduce the virulence of fungi and varieties improved with CRISPR… are some of the lines generating patents and new companies
“The biotechnology revolution is about to arrive in Europe but it is imminent, and Spain, with centers like the CBGP, has immense potential to turn basic research into patents, new products, and licenses exploited by a sector that is set to make agriculture more competitive and that is already an emerging reality.” This was stated by José Pellicer, president of BIOVEGEN, the platform dedicated to materializing biotechnology in agricultural developments, during the inauguration of the event ‘Cutting-edge Science and Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture’, which last week brought together more than 120 researchers and entrepreneurs at the auditorium of this center located in the Scientific and Technological Park of the U. Politécnica de Madrid. As described by its director, Isabel Allona, with an annual investment of 14 million, nearly 300 employees, and 40 research groups, the CBGP has renewed twice one of the most prestigious distinctions in the Spanish scientific system – the ‘Severo Ochoa’ – awarded to centers that demonstrate exceptional impact in their field – plant biotechnology – which also guarantees specific funding over the medium term. The mixed center created in 2010 by UPM and linked to the National Center INIA/Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) presented its technology transfer program – ‘CBGP-Solutions’ – which collaborates with agri-biotechnology companies either through specific services – such as those offered by Rociñante Lab, dedicated to developing genomic methods to accelerate improvement (from the current 13-15 years to 7 years), or through spin offs like Nawter Discovery or through permanent research units partnering with leading global companies in biosolutions like Rovensa.
And this emergence of new substances, microorganisms, and ‘bio’ methods – and their use as fertilizers, stimulants, or to improve plant health – as well as the new genetic editing techniques (NGT’s) is set to solidify, in addition to the regulatory changes that the EU is preparing. Hence, BIOVEGEN is working on a campaign of meetings, conferences, and congresses to bring these innovations and updates closer to its more than 185 partners and the primary sector in general. The biotechnological platform, whose activities are backed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, aims to disseminate and interconnect the advances and developments of its partners, which include research centers, agri-bio companies, investment funds, and banking entities. But it also involves activities related to project financing, such as the CDTI-Center for Technological Development and Innovation or the AEI-State Agency for Research, which, in fact, also participated in this event.
Indeed, on the immediate horizon, the approval of a new, more open and flexible European regulation for plants obtained through genetic editing and CRISPR (NGT’s) is anticipated. However, the reform of the fertilizer regulation – which should facilitate the recognition and access to new biofertilizers and bionutrition – is also underway; the Omnibus package for simplifying feed legislation, which will expand the definition of biostimulants to differentiate them from chemical pesticides and will expedite the registration of biopesticides (biocontrol in plant health) as well as the legislation on plant reproductive material (from nurseries). Furthermore, according to what BIOVEGEN has learned – which participates in the consultations that are already underway – the EU is already working on a new Directive on Genetically Modified Microorganisms.
This is how initiatives -also presented during the event- like Ivoro Ventures are understood, dedicated to ‘collaborating and advising research centers to transform their advancements into businesses, into spin-offs or start-ups‘, according to its CEO, Pedro Álvarez; or, once launched, to transform these emerging biotech companies ‘into solid, scalable, and successful enterprises’, participating in their equity or aiding in their internationalization, as detailed later by Swanlaab Venture Factory partner, Claudia Jiménez.
The ‘CBGP Solutions’
Divided into three blocks – biofertilization/bionutrition; bio-stimulation/bioprotection, and genetic editing – and through 14 brief presentations, the leading scientists from this Madrid center presented the ‘portfolio’ of CBGP Solutions. Endophytic fungi (that live within plant tissues without causing disease) used to obtain extracts for biostimulants and biopesticides that have already demonstrated effectiveness in tomatoes and corn; microbiome analysis (which is the sum of microorganisms living associated with a plant) capable of detecting 10 times more species in the soil (both latent pathogens and beneficial species) to discover new molecular functions or enzymes through sequencing and bioinformatics; root engineering to improve plant growth and the resilience of their stems with an innovative device called D-Root for in vitro cultivation (which avoids the light stress that alters plant responses) or a mechanism called ‘root clock’ that regulates where and when new lateral roots will form. Advances of this kind, in basic research and patent generation, have allowed the attraction of one of the subsidiaries – Rovensa Next – of one of the most powerful multinationals in biostimulants in the world – Rovensa – which by 2025 was expecting to invoice more than 1 billion euros and maintains a permanent research unit in this center.
In the field of biostimulation, the advances in the analysis of bacterial infections were also detailed, focusing on how to prioritize natural compounds against these pathogens to overcome the resistances to the few existing bactericides; biotechnological alternatives were proposed to improve tolerance to abiotic stress (such as environmental factors like salinity) or to turn plant defense mechanisms into crop protection tools; the use of mycoviruses (which infect fungi) that reduce the virulence of fungal diseases was discussed, and these have already shown results in crops like tomato and garlic, as well as stimulants to compensate for the lack of chilling hours in apricot trees or to coexist with drought.
In the third instance, the success case of Rocinante Lab was presented, a group from CBGP specialized in crop improvement that develops models and tools based on genomics, statistics, and AI to accelerate the creation of varieties. Advances were reported on understanding the molecular mechanisms of plant adaptation to different environments, as well as epigenetic processes (which regulate when genes are activated, silenced, and with what intensity they are expressed) that govern their development, genome organization, and key processes such as flowering. There was also an opportunity to learn about another spin off of CBGP, SemiCom BioSolutions, which offers an alternative outlet for 91% of plastic used in food packaging that is not recycled through the use of microbes designed with biotechnology to decompose these materials and obtain various chemical products or high-value ethanol. It was discussed how the accumulated knowledge about how a protein becomes an allergen has important business applications when quantifying such a problem in food, as a diagnostic method or even for producing antibodies.
Unrelated to CBGP, the activity of the Valencian Madeinplant was presented, specialized in improvement using CRISPR and involved in almost all of the few field trials conducted in Spain on edited crops, along with the case of Ramiro Arnedo, a leading company in seed production in La Rioja, which dedicates more than 30% of its revenue to R&D and also works with edited lettuces to generate resistance genes.
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