Alfonso Martínez Arias

Alfonso Martínez Arias
Born (1955-09-14) September 14, 1955
Madrid, Spain
EducationUniversidad Complutense de Madrid (BSc); University of Chicago (PhD)
OccupationDevelopmental Biologist
OrganizationUniversidad Complutense

University of Chicago MRC Lab of molecular biology University of Cambridge

Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Known forDevelopmental Biology; Drosophila Genetics; Gastruloids
Honours2012 Waddington Medal of the British Society of Developmental Biology

2007 Elected member of EMBO

2003 Personal Chair (Professorship), University of Cambridge, Cambridge (UK)

Alfonso Martínez Arias is a Spanish and British developmental biologist known by his pioneering development of gastruloids, a stem cell based embryo model for the study of early human development,[1][2][3][4][5] and his advocacy for the need to look at Biology from the perspective of the Cell rather than the Gene.[6][7] He is an elected member of EMBO[8] and of the Academia Europea[9] and in 2012 was awarded the Waddington Medal of the BSDB for his contributions to Developmental Biology.[10] Currently, he is an ICREA Emeritus Honorary Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona.[11]

Early life and education

Martínez Arias was born in Madrid, Spain. He obtained his undergraduate degree in biology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1977 and in 1978 moved to the US with a Fulbright fellowship where he completed his PhD in 1983 at the Department of Biophysics and Theoretical Biology of the University of Chicago, Chicago (US) under the supervision of Malcolm Casadaban.

Academic career

After postdoctoral research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom, he became a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. He later joined the Department of Genetics at Cambridge, where he was appointed professor of developmental mechanics in 2003 and remained until 2021. In 2021 he moved to Barcelona to become an ICREA research professor in the Systems Bioengineering/Experimental and Health Sciences programmes at UPF and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).[12]

Research

Martínez Arias's research focuses on how a fertilized egg gives rise to an organized organism, with particular emphasis on the early stages of mammalian development. His work has combined Drosophila developmental genetics with embryonic stem cell biology to study cell fate heterogeneity, signalling networks, and self‑organization. His laboratory developed “gastruloids”, three‑dimensional aggregates of pluripotent stem cells that recapitulate key features of vertebrate gastrulation and body‑plan formation, providing an in vitro model of early mammalian development in mouse and human.[13][14][15] This work is the first example of stem cell based embryo models and Martinez Arias has been very engaged in establishing scientific and ethical standards[16][17] as well as in guiding the applications of this new field.[18][19][20]

In addition to his research publications, Martínez Arias is co‑author of the textbook Molecular Principles of Animal Development[21] and of Principles of Development[22] a widely used developmental biology textbook that has reached its seventh edition and received the Royal Society of Biology book prize.

He is also the author of the popular science book The Master Builder  published in 2023,[23] where he argues that to understand life we must put cells, not genes, at the center of biology, that while DNA provides a catalogue of parts, it is cells that interpret this information, interact with each other, and build bodies during development. The book develops a “cell's‑eye view” of organisms and challenges popular “selfish gene” narratives and proposes a new paradigm rooted in cellular cooperation, with implications for how we think about evolution, individuality, development, disease, and the ethical questions raised by embryo and stem‑cell research.[6][7][23][24]

Awards and Honours

Martínez Arias was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2007[8] and of the Academia Europea in 2025.[9] In 2012 he received the Waddington Medal from the British Society for Developmental Biology for his contributions to developmental biology[10] and in 2016 a live achievement award from the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK[25]

His research has been supported by grants from Advanced Grants from the Wellcome Trust, the European Research Council and the Human Frontier Science Program grant[26]

  • Move to Barcelona:

Selected Publications

  • Rivron, N., Martinez Arias, A., Pera, M., Moris, N. and M’Hamdi, HI. (2023) An ethical framework for human embryology with embryo models. Cell 186, 3548-3557.
  • Sheng, G., Martinez Arias, A. and Sutherland, A. (2021) The primitive streak and cellular principles of building a body through gastrulation. Science 374 PMID 34855481.
  • Moris, N., Anlas, K., van den Brink, S., Alemany, A., Schroeder, J., Gimire, S., Balayo, T., Oudenaarden, A. and Martinez Arias, A. (2020)  An embryonic stem cell-based model for early human development. Nature 582, 410-415.
  • van den Brink, S., Baillie-Johnson, P., Balayo, T., Hadjantonakis, AK., Nowotschin, S., Turner, DA. And  & Martinez Arias, A. (2014)  Symmetry breaking, germ layer specification and axial organisation in aggregates of mouse ES cells. Development 141, 4231-4242.
  • Mateus, AM, Gorfinkiel, N. and Martinez Arias, A. (2009) Origin and function of fluctuations in cell behaviour and the emergence of pattern. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 20, 877-884.
  • Klein, T. and Martinez Arias, A. (1999). The Vestigial gene product provides a molecular context for the interpretation of signals during the development of the wing in Drosophila. Development 126, 913–925
  • Kalmar, T., Lim, C., Hayward, P., Muñoz Descalzo, S., Garcia Ojalvo, J. and Martinez Arias, A. (2009) Regulated fluctuations in Nanog expression mediate cell fate decisions in embryonic stem cells. PLoS Biol 7(7): e1000149. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000149
  • Martinez Arias, A. and Hayward, P. (2006) Filtering transcriptional noise during development: concepts and mechanisms. Nature Reviews Genetics 7, 34-44.
  • Martinez Arias, A., Baker, N. & Ingham, P.  (1988). The role of segment polarity genes in the definition and maintenance of cell states in the Drosophila embryo. Development. 103, 157-170.
  • Martinez Arias, A.  & Lawrence, P. (1985). Parasegments and compartments in the Drosophila  embryo. Nature 313, 639-642.

References

  1. ↑ Cyranoski, David (2020-06-11). "Lab-grown cells mimic crucial moment in embryo development". Nature. 582 (7812): 325. Bibcode:2020Natur.582..325C. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01757-z. PMID 32546866.
  2. ↑ "Science". AAAS. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  3. ↑ "'Embryo-like' model mimics crucial period of human development". BBC Science Focus Magazine. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  4. ↑ Callier, Viviane. "Small Collections of Cells Determine How a Body Takes Its Shape". Scientific American. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  5. ↑ Domínguez, Nuño. "Un modelo de embrión humano muestra una fase nunca observada de la vida". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  6. 1 2 Horwitz, Rick (2023-08-04). "The new cell theory The Master Builder Alfonso Martinez Arias Basic Books, 2023, 352 pp". Science. 381 (6657): 488. doi:10.1126/science.adj0271. ISSN 0036-8075.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, Alex (2023-08-15). "A Reason to Cheer for Cells and the Viruses That Feed on Them". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  8. 1 2 "Find people in the EMBO Communities". people.embo.org. Archived from the original on 2025-05-01. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  9. 1 2 "Academy of Europe: Martinez-Arias Alfonso". www.ae-info.org. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  10. 1 2 comms (2012-05-10). "Waddington Medal winner 2012- Alfonso Martinez Arias". BSDB - British Society for Developmental Biology. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  11. ↑ "ICREAs Fitxa". ICREA. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  12. ↑ "Alfonso Martínez Arias, new ICREA Senior researcher at UPF - Focus UPF - UPF". Focus UPF. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  13. ↑ van den Brink, Susanne C.; Baillie-Johnson, Peter; Balayo, Tina; Hadjantonakis, Anna-Katerina; Nowotschin, Sonja; Turner, David A.; Martinez Arias, Alfonso (November 2014). "Symmetry breaking, germ layer specification and axial organisation in aggregates of mouse embryonic stem cells". Development (Cambridge, England). 141 (22): 4231–4242. doi:10.1242/dev.113001. ISSN 1477-9129. PMC 4302915. PMID 25371360.
  14. ↑ Moris, Naomi; Anlas, Kerim; van den Brink, Susanne C.; Alemany, Anna; Schröder, Julia; Ghimire, Sabitri; Balayo, Tina; van Oudenaarden, Alexander; Martinez Arias, Alfonso (June 2020). "An in vitro model of early anteroposterior organization during human development". Nature. 582 (7812): 410–415. Bibcode:2020Natur.582..410M. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2383-9. hdl:1874/442187. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32528178.
  15. ↑ Arias, Alfonso Martinez; Marikawa, Yusuke; Moris, Naomi (August 2022). "Gastruloids: Pluripotent stem cell models of mammalian gastrulation and embryo engineering". Developmental Biology. 488: 35–46. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2022.05.002. ISSN 1095-564X. PMC 9477185. PMID 35537519.
  16. ↑ Rivron, Nicolas C.; Martinez Arias, Alfonso; Pera, Martin F.; Moris, Naomi; M’hamdi, Hafez Ismaili (August 2023). "An ethical framework for human embryology with embryo models". Cell. 186 (17): 3548–3557. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.028. hdl:10230/58014. PMID 37595564.
  17. ↑ Martinez Arias, Alfonso; Rivron, Nicolas; Moris, Naomi; Tam, Patrick; Alev, Cantas; Fu, Jianping; Hadjantonakis, Anna-Katerina; Hanna, Jacob H.; Minchiotti, Gabriella; Pourquie, Olivier; Sheng, Guojun; Solnica Krezel, Liliana; Veenvliet, Jesse V.; Warmflash, Aryeh (October 2024). "Criteria for the standardization of stem-cell-based embryo models". Nature Cell Biology. 26 (10): 1625–1628. doi:10.1038/s41556-024-01492-x. ISSN 1476-4679. PMID 39223372.
  18. ↑ Arias, Alfonso Martinez; Rivron, Nicolas; Tajbakhsh, Shahragim; Johnston, Josephine; Alev, Cantas; Bally-Cuif, Laure; Böke, Elvan; Cavazza, Tommaso; Cave, Emma; Cyranoski, David; David, Laurent; Esteban, Miguel A.; Fu, Jianping; Geijsen, Niels; de Graeff, Nienke (2026-03-24). "Human stem cell-based embryo models: innovation, ethics, and policy". Human Reproduction (Oxford, England) deag035. doi:10.1093/humrep/deag035. ISSN 1460-2350. PMID 41875051.
  19. ↑ Ball, Philip (2023-06-13). "'Embryo Models' Challenge Legal, Ethical and Biological Concepts". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  20. ↑ Wallingford, J (2026). "Building embryos".
  21. ↑ Vincent, Jean-Paul (November 2002). "Developmental biology turned on its head". Nature Cell Biology. 4 (11): E257. doi:10.1038/ncb1102-e257. ISSN 1476-4679.
  22. ↑ global.oup.com https://global.oup.com/academic/product/wolperts-principles-of-development-9780192896612?cc=es&lang=en&. Retrieved 2026-06-02. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. 1 2 THE MASTER BUILDER | Kirkus Reviews.
  24. ↑ Ansede, Manuel (2024-05-08). "La fusión de dos hermanas en una única mujer sugiere que la identidad del ser humano no está en su ADN". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  25. ↑ "SRUK/CERU Merit Award". Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  26. ↑ "Cambridge researchers win European Research Council funding | Cambridge Network". www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
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