The SEBBM Journal is a channel for analysis, reflection and dissemination of scientific activity in Spain and of public and private research policies. Its origins date back to 1963 and it currently publishes thematic issues covering transversal research in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology. The articles are commissioned by the best specialists in the subject. Each issue also highlights the most relevant educational and scientific work of SEBBM members, as well as SEBBM news.

The current issue ‘The legacy of Severo Ochoa and the CBM' (nº 227, December 2025) has been coordinated by Dr. Luis Blanco from Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBM), CSIC-UAM, Madrid, Spain. The issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of CBM.

'The figure of Severo Ochoa represents like no other the confluence between scientific research of excellence and commitment to the institutional development of science in Spain. His career, developed mainly in the United States after the Civil War, reached its culmination with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959, for the discovery of the enzymatic mechanisms of ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis. In 1955, together with Marianne Grunberg-Manago, he had described polynucleotide phosphorylase, a bacterial enzyme capable of synthesising polyribonucleotides from nucleoside diphosphate. The discovery, beyond its biochemical importance, was key to advancing the development of experiments that led to the deciphering of the genetic code. Later, Marshall Nirenberg and Heinrich Matthaei (1961) used the enzyme system from Ochoa's laboratory to demonstrate the correspondence between base triplets and amino acids, which represented a very important step in the history of molecular biology. In doing so, Ochoa contributed to the formulation of the central dogma of molecular biology, which explains how genetic information flows from DNA to RNA, and from RNA to proteins.

His return to Spain in the 1970s symbolised the return of scientific talent and the desire to create new and lasting structures for research in the country. This vision led to the creation of the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Centre (CBM) in 1975. After fifty years of existence, the CBM has established itself as a national and international benchmark in biomedical research. Since its foundation, the CBM has brought together researchers trained in some of the world's most prestigious laboratories. But what makes it most special is its interdisciplinary approach, its strong focus on training, and its commitment to both basic and applied research. Its scientific output covers fields such as gene expression, molecular neurobiology, structural biology, virology, and experimental biomedicine. The CSIC-UAM organisational model has served as a reference for other research centres in Spain, and the CBM has trained generations of researchers who now hold leadership positions in national and international institutions, perpetuating Ochoa's legacy.

Ochoa's legacy transcends the discovery of polynucleotide phosphorylase or winning the Nobel Prize, as his true impact lies in having sowed the seeds of a modern scientific culture in Spain: open, rigorous and collaborative.'

Issue 227 of the SEBBM Journal contains six articles that analyse the historical and scientific context of Severo Ochoa's legacy and the future prospects for the CBM in Spanish biomedical research.

The issue is available at https://sebbm.es/revista/numeros/el-legado-de-severo-ochoa-y-el-cbm/

Part of this post is a translation of text written in Spanish by Dr. Luis Blanco Dávila from Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBM), CSIC-UAM, and published on the SEBBM website on December, 2025. 

References:

Grunberg-Manago M, Ortiz PJ, Ochoa S. Enzymatic synthesis and breakdown of polynucleotides: Polynucleotide phosphorylase. Journal of American Chemical Society. 77 (1955) 3165–3166. doi:10.1021/ja01616a093

Ochoa S, Mii S. Studies on polynucleotides synthesized by polynucleotide phosphorylase. IV. P³²-labeled ribonucleic acid. Journal of Biological Chemistry 234 (1959) 1208–1212. PMID:13654349

Ochoa S. Nobel Lecture: Polynucleotide Phosphorylase and the Synthesis of RNA. 1959. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1959/ochoa/lecture

SEBBM. Severo Ochoa.  https://sebbm.es/biografias-destacadas/severo-ochoa/