Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG)

The Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) is an independent research institution devoted to leading-edge research in plant and farm animal biology, genetics and genomics.

Currently, CRAG hosts 23 research groups, and approximately 60 PhD candidates and 30 postdocs coming from more than 20 different countries.

The research emphasizes:

  • The molecular basis of genetic characters of interest in plants and farm animals;
  • The applications of molecular approaches for breeding of important species for agriculture and food production.
www.cragenomica.es
Excellence and recognition awards
  • In 2015: awarded with the “Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence” award by the Ministry of Research, Development and Innovation of Spain.
  • In 2015: awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research" award by the European Commission.
Ranking positioning

90,5% of CRAG publications are in 1st quartile journals

Director of the center
Maria Lois CRAG BIYSC

Maria Lois

  • CSIC Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), since 2008.
  • Her research, focused on the study of a cellular regulatory mechanism known as SUMOylation, has been published in high impact journals.
  • Her research has received funding from the European Research Council, Catalan Government, and Caixa Capital Risc for her research and development of a molecular tool for in vivo SUMO conjugation inhibition.
  • L. Maria Lois has received the 2022 Plaque of Honour from the Spanish Association of Scientists for her research, dedication to tech transfer and management activity.
Renowned researcher

Jordi Garcia-Mas

  • Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1994)
  • Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. David Baulcombe at the Sainsbury Laboratory (Norwich, UK) (1995-1997)
  • IRTA researcher at the Plant and Animal Genomics Program of CRAG since 1997.
  • Coordinator of the first melon genome reference sequencing project (2012), and reference researcher in the international Cucurbits genomics community.
  • Scientific Director at IRTA and deputy director at CRAG since 2018.
The project

Molecular breeding & gene editing: Feeding the world in a changing climate

Agriculture is facing a huge challenge: How to feed a growing world population in a context of climate change? Can we guarantee food safety and security while protecting the environment? In this project, we will use state-of-the-art techniques in molecular biology and genomics to unveil the genetics of important crops and improve their traits. Join us in the plant science fascinating world and get into the plant genomics world!

More about the project