The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has published two open white papers that collect the scientific challenges of the next decade, in order to broaden the knowledge about evolution and genomics. These are the first two instalments of the 14 CSIC white papers that collect the strategic themes of the organism to focus research on the great challenges of the next decade in the areas of biology, health, brain, energy, space, climate change and global society, among others.

The two volumes are published in English through Editorial CSIC and are available in open access on this website. The rest of the titles in the collection will be published in the coming months.

The white book ‘Origins, (Co) Evolution, Diversity & Synthesis of Life‘, addresses the emergence of life and its diversification to current biology. Coordinated by researchers Paola Bovolenta, Miguel Manzanares and Javier Buceta, it has counted with the participation of several IBE researchers: Carles Lalueza-Fox as coordinator of challenge 6 (Social and Human Evolution) and Sergi Valverde as coordinator of challenge 5 (evolutionary system biology). Also Arcadi Navarro, Rosa Fernández, Tomàs Marquès-Bonet, Josefa González and Jesús Lozano have been contributors to this book.

According to the White Book coordinators, "unraveling evolution will give the keys to the origin of life and the molecular mechanisms that operate in living beings and how they change over time." Once these mechanisms are understood, we will be in a position to combine their pieces in novel ways, opening the way to synthetic biology. This volume summarizes current knowledge about this area and future lines of research.

Also IBE researchers Daniel Richter and Javier del Campo have contributed to the White book 'Oceans', in particular the 8th challenge: Oceans of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

Precisely, the 14 CSIC white papers are the result of the collaboration of nearly 1,100 researchers from more than 100 CSIC research centers and other institutions, such as public research organizations and universities. They all agree on the need for a multidisciplinary approach and on the promotion of collaborative research to develop ambitious projects focused on specific challenges.

The 14 volumes, coordinated by the Vice Presidency of Scientific and Technical Research, have the objective of serving as a frame of reference for the development of the institution's scientific strategy and provide a review of the ongoing research at the CSIC. Finally, they constitute an overview of the key scientific challenges of the next decade.

More information:

Download the published open books here.

Watch here the presentation ceremony of the white books.