Puri López-García

Puri López-García is a CNRS Director of Research at the Ecology, Systematics and Evolution Unit (ESE - Université Paris-Saclay/CNRS/AgroParisTech). A microbial naturalist, she investigates evolutionary transitions and life's origins through fieldwork in extreme environments and genomic analysis of archaea, bacteria, and microbial eukaryotes.

• Specializes in microbial diversity and ecology
• Co-developed the syntrophy hypothesis for eukaryotic cell evolution
• Published in Nature regarding deep-sea eukaryotic microorganism discoveries

Research Focus combines

• Phylogenetic analysis of extremophiles
• Metagenomic exploration of sterile liquid water environments
• Interdisciplinary astrobiology applications
• Chloroplast evolution through cyanobacteria studies

Scientific Recognition

• French Académie des Sciences
• Royal Academy of Belgium
• American Academy of Microbiology

Fieldwork Leadership includes expeditions to volcanic lakes in Mexico, hydrothermal springs, abyssal zones, the Chilean Andes, and Dallol/Ethiopian Danakil Depression. Her work demonstrates liquid water ≠ guaranteed habitability, challenging astrobiological assumptions.