On September 20, 2024, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, appointed Mário Tyago Murakami as Substitute President of the National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio).
The appointment was made official through MCTI Ordinance No. 733, and the term will last two years from is publication.
CTNBio is a collegiate body responsible for formulating, updating, and implementing the National Biosafety Policy for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It also establishes technical safety standards and technical opinions regarding the authorization of activities involving research and commercial use of GMOs and their derivatives based on the assessment of their zoo phytosanitary risk, human health, and the environment.
The appointment of the researcher reflects the commitment of the team at the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) to maintaining robust and consistent practices in safety and scientific excellence, which also enabled the development of unprecedented technological structures in Brazil and Latin America, such as the Sirius project and the level 4 biosafety laboratory under development, Orion, both with improvement and construction phases, respectively included in the Federal Government’s New PAC.
“Serving as Deputy President of this board is an honorary position of great relevance for Brazil and its bio-economy, and with the management knowledge acquired in these more than 15 years at CNPEM combined with scientific knowledge, I hope to contribute to increasing the speed, visibility and technical-scientific rigor in biosafety risk assessments, aiming to promote sustainable biological-based economic development.”
Since 2008 at CNPEM, Murakami has led a group in biocatalysis and synthetic biology, serving as Scientific Director of LNBR since 2018. He coordinated important scientific facilities at the Center’s National Laboratories and between 2016 and 2017 he was Coordinator of the Molecular Division of CTBE (current LNBR). His research focuses on the depolymerization of agro-industrial waste and microbial bioconversion, with high-impact publications in journals such as Nature Chemical Biology and Nature Communications, with paradigm shifts in the area of CAZymes and discoveries of novel mechanisms.
Currently, his focus lies in the discovery and elucidation of microbial mechanisms for depolymerization and bioconversion of agro-industrial waste, in addition to the development of fungal platforms for enzyme production. He coordinates a FAPESP thematic project in this area and leads large-scale R&D projects with Biotechnology companies, in addition to institutional interdisciplinary programs to solve the country’s strategic challenges in bioenergy and biorenewables.
Mario Murakami is an affiliated member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (2020-present), and a member of CTNBio/MCTI (2021-present). In 2023, he received the EMBRAPII Outstanding Researcher Award, recognizing his leadership in PD projects, among more than 5,000 researchers in the EMBRAPII network.
