Luis Blanco

Luis Blanco is a Research Professor at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), renowned for his groundbreaking work in DNA replication and repair. His research focuses on the discovery and characterization of DNA polymerases, including Phi29 DNA polymerase, human Pol μ, Pol λ, and PrimPol, which play critical roles in protein-primed replication, double-strand break repair, and DNA damage tolerance.

His work has revolutionized biotechnology through the development of isothermal DNA amplification methods like TempliPhi and TruePrime™, commercialized by GE Healthcare and 4BASEBIO. He has led significant studies on non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and pioneered structural insights into DNA polymerase mechanisms, including the conserved 3'-5' exonuclease site crucial for replication fidelity.

• 2014: XX Carmen & Severo Ochoa Award in Molecular Biology
• 1985: PhD Extraordinary Award, Autonomous University of Madrid
• 1980: B.A. Extraordinary Award, Santiago de Compostela University

Blanco's research has been translated into biotech innovations via patents and spin-offs like X-Pol Biotech S.L., later merged into 4BASEBIO, a leader in synthetic DNA production for vaccines and gene therapy. His lab's discovery of 3 out of 17 human DNA polymerases underscores his impact on molecular biology and biotechnology.