Degree in Physical Sciences by the University of Barcelona (UB) and PhD in Biological Sciences by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), he has been Research Professor at CSIC where he has worked in the fields of molecular biology and more recently in plant genomics.

He is a member of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), where he chairs the Biological Sciences section, the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, and other European academies. He is also a member of scientific and ethics committees in Catalonia, Spain and Europe. In addition, he has received awards for his scientific career and for his work in the popularization of science.