Ginés Morata
Discovering how cells build, repair and compete
Ginés Morata is a Spanish developmental biologist whose research has advanced significantly our understanding of how genes control the formation, maintenance, and regeneration of animal tissues. His work has been carried out in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a model organism that has proved indispensable for uncovering the genetic principles underlying animal development.
One of Morata’s major contributions was the discovery and genetic analysis of developmental compartments—groups of cells that generate discrete regions of the body and maintain lineage-restricted boundaries throughout development. Together with Peter Lawrence, he demonstrated that selector genes, such engrailed, specify the identity of these compartments. His research also clarified the function of the Hox genes—a family of master regulatory genes that determine the identity of different parts of the body along the head-to-tail axis. By showing how these genes interact with developmental compartments, Morata helped explain how a common genetic blueprint generates the diverse structures of the animal body.
In 1975, together with Pedro Ripoll, Morata discovered cell competition, a quality-control mechanism by which more fit cells selectively eliminate neighbouring cells with lower fitness. First identified in Drosophila tissues, cell competition is now recognised as a fundamental biological process involved in tissue homeostasis, ageing, regeneration and cancer in all metazoans, including humans.
It protects the organism by eliminating undesirable cells, but under certain conditions the same mechanism can stimulate tumour growth. Morata’s subsequent research has also made significant contributions to the understanding of programmed cell death, revealing how signals released by dying cells stimulate the growth and regeneration of surrounding tissues.
Career and recognitions
Born in Rioja, Almería, in 1945, Morata studied Biological Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid and completed his doctorate there in 1973 under Antonio García-Bellido. He carried out postdoctoral research at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge with Peter Lawrence. In 1977 he returned to Spain and joined the Severo Ochoa Centre for Molecular Biology, a joint institute of the Spanish National Research Council and the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Morata received Spain’s Santiago Ramón y Cajal National Research Award in 2002 and shared the 2007 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research with Peter Lawrence. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London in 2017 and an International Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2018. In recognition of his outstanding scientific career, the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain awarded him the Echegaray Medal in 2025.
Developmental Genetics
Prince of Asturias Award 2007
CBM CSIC – Universidad Autónoma de Madrid