Mohammad Zainal Abidin was born in Sukoharjo, Indonesia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, from University of Gadjah Mada in August 2007. Following his graduation, he continued as Master student at the same university, under supervision of Prof. Yuny Erwanto. Upon the completion of his master’s degree, he worked as a researcher assistant of Prof. Ambar Pertiwiningrum, focusing her research on the isolation, characterization, and production of alkaline protease from leather tannery waste. In 2012, he started his career as a lecturer/researcher at University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He was then pursuing his Ph.D degree at the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Biology Department, University of Groningen (RuG), The Netherlands (2014 – 2021) under supervision of Prof. dr. G.J. Poelarends and Prof. dr. Wim J. Quax.

Zainal is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Product Technology, University of Gadjah Mada, where he was appointed in March 2022.