Prize Winners

Curriculum Vitae

Doctor of Agricultural Engineering (Madrid), PhD (Biology, Stanford). Professor at the University of Seville.

Jury ruling

The jury for the Rei Jaume I Prize for Basic Research, meeting in Gandia (Alicante), has unanimously decided to award the 1995 prize to Mr Enrique Cerdá Olmedo.

This is in recognition of his extensive work on the genetics of bacteria and fungi, the results of which have advanced our understanding of various biological problems, both fundamental – such as the mechanisms of mutations, cell wall formation and cell differentiation – and applied – such as the production of important natural substances.

Furthermore, he has developed new genetic methods which have enabled the isolation of mutants from bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi. He has also designed an assay for the diagnosis of programmed cell death.

In Phycomyces fungi, he has described the first sensory transduction pathway that explains these fungi’s responses to changes in the environment, such as variations in light.

Finally, he has proposed an interesting hypothesis to explain the evolution of metabolic pathways and behaviour in fungi.

His work demonstrates great originality of thought and has contributed to a better understanding of certain functions in higher organisms.