UNR was the first university in Argentina, and in Latin America, to incorporate a degree in biotechnology, which brought strong scientific growth to the region.

In 1989, the Universidad Nacional de Rosario The program launched the first Biotechnology degree in Argentina and Latin America, laying the foundations for the development of this field in the region. Thirty-five years after its creation, the degree has established itself as a key pillar in the training of excellent researchers and has been fundamental in positioning Rosario as a leading biotechnology hub with international impact.

“In the last 10 years, the advent of startup processes and accelerators and incubators has also meant that the potential that emerged in the race has been translated into the development of pure technology-based companies generated from knowledge in the area of ​​biotechnology and other areas as well, biochemistry, pharmacy, engineering, food,” commented Andrés Sciara, dean of the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UNR.   

According to the first national census of biotechnology and nanotechnology companies, carried out in 2023, Rosario is the city with the highest concentration of biotechnology companies in the country. “The Rosario Department has more than 60% of the biotechnology development system, and that, in an adverse economic context that the country has been going through in recent years, is remarkable,” said the Dean, and added: “It is due to two factors: a strong agro-exporting hub with a foreign currency investment capacity that generated the first large companies and, also, with a strong innovative sector in health and food. I believe that the combination of knowledge, innovative capacity, acceleration and incubation spaces and the export power that has to do with these axes of knowledge, entered into a positive synergy that has generated this development of the hub.”

Néstor Carrillo, who was the first director of the degree, emphasized the influence of the graduates in the growth and positioning of Rosario as a benchmark in biotechnology. “They were a driving force of dynamism within the sector, many of them are now entrepreneurs and also professors. There are many patents that were created, and that generates great value, and a mechanism was built so that royalties could be obtained for the institutions and for the researchers themselves, which makes it a sector in strong growth.” 

Esteban Serra, who was Dean of the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and who at one time was the student body’s delegate in the commission that made the proposal for the first study plan for the degree, stressed that the academy was “20 years ahead of the development of biotechnology companies” but that the launch of the degree was very important in creating the context for them to emerge. “I think that the fact that it was the first degree positioned the city within the subject as a main protagonist. The process of the emergence of technology-based companies began very slowly with the reactivation after 2005 and had an explosion after 2010, more or less 25 years after the appearance of the degree.” 

It should be noted that, in addition to companies, the program has been strengthened by the incorporation of different research institutes, some of which are even dependent on UNR-Conicet, which function as a fundamental space in the process of training professionals and play an essential role in the construction of knowledge.

Origins

The Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology was created at the Faculty of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the UNR, as an academic response to research related to chemistry and molecular biology. "It was the initiative of a group of visionary researchers who detected a development perspective for the future. It began with a small but very enthusiastic group of students who took it and who today are leaders in the development of biotechnology," said Sciara, who is also a graduate of this degree. 

It formally began in 1989, although it already had advanced students, because years before it was introduced as a specialty within the Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry. “A degree is not launched overnight and it was necessary to work thoroughly on the relevant areas. This was a way of being able to open enrollment without having to wait until all these regulatory issues were resolved,” explained Carrillo and clarified: “It worked like this for two years, and once it was approved, the students went directly to the Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology, in the second or third year.”

This academic training path includes the study of the constructive molecules of living matter, as well as the mechanisms by which these influence each other to build, maintain and perpetuate the state of life. It also deals with the study of the physicochemical laws and processes that govern the transformations and behaviors of living organisms, as well as the set of molecular and cellular methodologies that allow the control, manipulation and transformation of living organisms. 

The course arose from the interest of professionals, mainly biochemists or pharmacists, who returned to the city in the mid-eighties after doing their postdocs abroad. “Basically, we had learned a lot about molecular biology. This generated a number of skills, new knowledge and techniques that could be applied technologically. In this way, we decided to promote this course,” Carrillo stressed. 

From the beginning, it was planned that it would be a shorter course, in which the last year would be directly used for work in the laboratory. “The idea was to generate for the community a person trained in this type of techniques with possible application to the productive sector. Basically, to use all these new technological resources to improve plant and animal species and microorganisms to be applied, in addition to the productive sector, to health and the environment,” he added. 

The degree was based on three pillars, which marked the logic of the degree: that students can learn by themselves, can work in teams, and are imbued with the concept of interdisciplinarity. “Knowledge is infinite, so one has to learn all the time, and one must also learn to work with others and be open to doing so with other knowledge, including that of the social sciences. We thought of it based a bit on Husserl’s pedagogical idea of ​​learning as overcoming obstacles,” Carrillo recalled. 

Sciara said that the degree has evolved over the years, becoming more research-oriented and generating incipient technological development. “It is much more focused, at least in its training and also above all in the interest of its graduates, on participation in projects that have to do with production and the development of technological companies. It has also turned towards the formation of a solid team of links where today we generate agreements that should not only provide simple services but also technology development, product development and solutions to the business sector that imply added value and import substitution.” 

Quality training worldwide

Mario Feldman, who was incorporated into the American Academy of Microbiology for his long career in the study of bacteria, has the honor of appearing in the history books for being the first graduate of the Bachelor of Biotechnology at UNR. “It was a time when few knew what biotechnology was. There were 35 of us in the first year, and it seems that many imagined something else because there were 10 of us in the second year and from the third year we were only 3 students,” he recalled and highlighted that by the time he was in his fourth and fifth year, he had become the only current student in his class. 

Mario, currently based in St. Louis, United States, runs a startup that works on vaccines specialized in bacteria. Many researchers from the Faculty of Biochemical Sciences have passed through his laboratory, something that he highlighted with great pride due to the solid training. “I must admit that I feel admiration for those who do science in Argentina and for the achievements they often achieve with a small budget. They work at the highest level and have nothing to envy of any other professional anywhere in the world. In my laboratory I have researchers from all over, but when I have one from the UNR I know the kind of training they have and above all I know that they will be up to the challenge.”

For his part, Luciano Marraffini, a graduate of the Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology and incorporated into the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in 2019, stressed that the Bachelor's degree course was very demanding, but at the same time very complete. “I remember that the first years, we spent a lot of time at the faculty, we were there almost all day. The intensity of the program made us learn a lot, something that I valued over time. It gave me the tools to boost my professional development, what one learns at UNR prepares you for any challenge.”

Journalist: Gonzalo J. García/ Photographer: Camila Casero.