The National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB) was created in 1987 as a strategic research centre of the Spanish National Research Council  (CSIC), serving both an academic and a technology transfer purpose in Biotechnology.

The mission of the CNB is the generation of excellent scientific knowledge and its application to solving human and animal health issues, environmental, and agricultural challenges, whilst collaborating with industries and ensuring the transfer of technology.

The CNB is committed to the training of highly qualified personnel. It offers biotechnology-oriented counselling to companies and public institutions as well as an important communication of its scientific activity in specialized journals and press media.

In our constant effort to conduct excellent research, a document defining scientific guidelines and professional directions was approved in 2005. The document, named Plan CNB10, will certainly have a positive impact on CNB's activity.

Also in 2005 CNB welcomed an evaluation pannel sponsored by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). The report ranks the CNB at the level of the best Biomedicine and Biotechnology research centres in the world.

During this time, and thanks to the hard work of its scientific, technical and administrative staff, CNB has managed to rank among the best molecular biology institutes in Europe. Those are its pevious directors: