Dr. Herrera-Estrella is chief of the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity, Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute, Irapuato, Mexico. He received a Ph.D. in plant molecular biology from the State University of Ghent, Belgium, where he also conducted postgraduate research. Among the many honors he has received are the 1984 Minoru and Ethel Tsutsui Distinguished Graduate Research Award in Science from the New York Academy of Sciences, the 1987 Javed Husain Award from UNESCO, the 1989 Scientific Research Prize in Natural Sciences from the Mexican National Academy of Sciences, the 1994 Award in Biology from the Third World Academy of Sciences, the 1998 RedBio Medal from the Latin American Biotechnology Network, the 2000 WIPO Medal from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the 2002 National Award in Science, the highest recognition given to scientists by the Mexican government, and the 2007 Trieste Science Prize, in Agricultural Sciences from the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World. In 2003 he was elected to the Mexican Academy of Sciences and, as a foreign associate, to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.