The main objective of our research is to integrate the fundamental and applied aspects of Molecular Farming - the production of high value molecules such as recombinant proteins and secondary metabolites, in plant based systems.

We are particularly interested in plant cell suspension cultures as platforms for the production of valuable molecules with applications in the pharmaceutical, food and feed industries. We are currently using two model species, Medicago truncatula (A17) and Nicotiana tabacum (BY-2).

The main line of research in the laboratory focuses on the metabolic engineering of cell suspension cultures and optimizing microalgae cultures for the production of valuable carotenoid pigments. Cultured plant cells have a significant potential for generating specialized small molecules, for which there are no effective competitor bioproducers. Carotenoids have versatile applications including traditional sectors like nutrition and health but also other markets such as animal feed, aquaculture, and food biotechnology, including cellular agriculture, providing both color and nutritional value. 

We aim to improve our production systems by studying the role of plant proteases in different cellular processes, using both model and non-model plant systems. Additionally, we are producing specific proteases in alternative plant-based platforms for applications across various industries.

We are using these platforms to study cellular mechanisms while producing high-value molecules, which adds an applied dimension to this research and enhances the importance of fundamental cell biology questions.