Francisco Mosquera is a biotechnology engineer from Ecuador bringing expertise and skills in molecular biology and programming. He actively took part in two iGEM synthetic biology competitions as team member and advisor. The competition celebrated in 2018, being the first time that an Ecuadorian team participated, a silver medal was clinched, and set the stage for subsequent achievements. In the 2021 iGEM competition, the team achieved a gold medal and special prizes, including Best Food and Nutrition Project, Best Model, Best Sustainable Development Impact, and Best New Composite Part.
In his professional journey, Francisco honed his skills in molecular biology, particularly during his performance in a prestigious Oncologic Hospital in Ecuador where he applied a wide range of techniques such as real-time PCR and next-generation sequencing (NGS) for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Moreover, he was honored with the prize to the the best clinical case presented in the “Clinical Case Contest Hospital SOLCA Núcleo de Quito, First Edition”.
By coauthoring three articles, he has contributed to scientific literature with a focus on plant virology in two and a third tackling the pressing challenge of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.