Carlos Briones Llorente

Carlos Briones holds a degree in Chemistry (specialising in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and a PhD in Science, with a thesis carried out at the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM). He is a tenured CSIC researcher and coordinator of the Molecular Evolution, RNA World and Biosensors Group at the Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA).

His research lines are: (i) the origin and early evolution of life (experimental and theoretical approaches to the RNA world model and to prebiotic systems chemistry); (ii) in vitro evolution of nucleic acids (RNA and DNA aptamers against different molecules and biomarkers); (iii) genetics of RNA viruses (dynamics of viral quasispecies and sequence/structure/function relationships in their genomic RNA); and (iv) development of biosensors (based on aptamers, DNA and protein microarrays, and nanobiosensors). He collaborates in interdisciplinary projects analysing microbial biodiversity in extreme environments (MARTE and IPBSL) and identifying molecular precursors of the RNA world in the interstellar medium.

He has participated in 25 competitive research projects, as principal investigator in 10 of them. He has co-authored more than 120 articles, over 80 of them in journals indexed in the Web of Science (h-index 30), and is co-inventor of 10 patents and utility models. He is a member of the Executive Committees of the European Astrobiology Institute (EAI) and of the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence – CAB, and a board member of the Spanish Society for Virology (SEV). Since 2016 he has been Scientific Secretary of the International School of Astrobiology "Josep Comas i Solà" (CAB-UIMP-NASA). He coordinates the research challenge "The origins of life: from chemistry to biology", within the strategic theme "Origins, (co)evolution, diversity and synthesis of life" of the CSIC 2030 White Papers, and the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform (PTI) "Origin of life: evolution towards the emergence of biochemical functions".

He also has extensive experience in science outreach and communication as a speaker, activity coordinator and author of articles and books, including Orígenes. El Universo, la vida, los humanos (Ed. Crítica, 2015) and ¿Estamos solos? En busca de otras vidas en el Cosmos (Ed. Crítica, 2020).