Miguel Arenas Busto

Miguel Arenas Busto is a Professor at the University of Vigo, Spain, affiliated with the Faculty of Biology and the Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology. He leads the Computational Molecular Evolution (CME) Team within the Biomedical Research Center at the Vigo campus. His career includes positions as Principal Investigator under the Ramón y Cajal program (2017-2022), postdoctoral research at prestigious institutions including the University of Bern and the Centre for Molecular Biology 'Severo Ochoa', and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Vigo completed cum laude in 2010.

• PhD in Genetics, University of Vigo (2010), Cum Laude
• PostDoc, University of Bern (2010-2012)
• PostDoc, Centre for Molecular Biology 'Severo Ochoa' CSIC (2012-2015)
• Principal Investigator, IPATIMUP/i3S, University of Porto (2015-2017)
• Principal Investigator (Ramón y Cajal), University of Vigo (2017-2022)
• Professor PCD, University of Vigo (2022-2023)
• Professor TU, University of Vigo (2023-Present)

Arenas specializes in the evolutionary analysis of genetic data at molecular and population levels. His research encompasses Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution, Molecular Adaptation, Genetic Diversity, Phylogenetics, Phylogenomics, and the evolution of structure and function of biological macromolecules. He has developed computational methods and software tools for molecular evolution analysis, including Recodon, NetRecodon, ProteinEvolver, and ProtASR.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on protein evolution with structural constraints, substitution model development, ancestral sequence reconstruction, and viral evolution (particularly HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2). A significant trend across his work is the integration of protein folding stability into evolutionary models, demonstrating how structural constraints shape molecular evolution. His research bridges computational biology with experimental validation, with applications spanning infectious disease dynamics, molecular adaptation, and phylogenetic inference.

• Thesis Award (best Thesis of University of Vigo, 2010)
• Group Leader Junior of Computational Molecular Evolution Group (CINBIO, 2021)
• Group Leader of Computational Genetics and Genomics Group (IPATIMUP/I3S)
• EMBO Fellowship (2014)
• Ramón y Cajal Grant from Spanish Government (2017-present)

Arenas has supervised numerous undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students, with a focus on computational approaches to evolutionary questions. His research has been funded by multiple agencies including the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Xunta de Galicia, Fundación BBVA, The Foundation for Science and Technology, European Molecular Biology Organization, and EU Framework Programs. He serves as Associate Editor for several journals including Genes and Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, and as a reviewer for numerous high-impact journals and research agencies across Europe.

He directs the Computational Molecular Evolution (CME) Team at the University of Vigo, which focuses on developing computational methods for evolutionary analysis, with particular emphasis on protein evolution constrained by structural stability. The lab maintains active collaborations with research groups across Europe and the United States, participating in international networks including the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution and the Spanish Society of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.