30 years of R+D CSIC The cost of sequencing genomes is a million times less than it was just over two decades ago. The data is impressive. If in the year 1998, the sequencing of a single piece of the Arabidopsis plant genome was a milestone, now the situation has changed radically. We speak with some of the early researchers in this field.

The Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) participates in a project to improve the monitoring of fermentation and aging of Catalan wine farms through sensors and chips. The sensorization of wineries seeks to improve the economic performance of farms and better cope with the effects of climate change in the coming decades.

Sweet potato feathery mottle virus and sweet potato mild mottle virus cause huge losses in sweet potato crops, especially in African and Latin American countries, where this species is a staple crop. Scientists at CRAG have contributed to solve the structure of these viruses. The research aims to explain their mode of infection and open up new strategies for their control.

GoPinea, a project to recover the production of the Iberian pine nut, has finished. Among its results, a team from the CSIC's Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC) has obtained compounds that could be used to control the pine seed bug, an invasive insect that is causing major losses in pine nut harvests.

DARkWIN will track the preferences of bumblebees (which will be followed by radio frequency) to guide plant natural selection and breeding. The research will be carried out on an experimental crop, exposed to heat and drought, and using Living IoT technology.

The Center for Automation and Robotics, a joint center of the CSIC and the Polytechnic University of Madrid, has developed a prototype robot to help in grape harvest. Developed in the H2020 FlexiGroBots project, the robot has been presented at the Transfiere forum.

More than a hundred international experts and companies met at the 18th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics, which focused on the impact of climate change on rice cultivation. The main themes the debate dealt with were the challenges of climate change, the possibilities of the new CRISPR gene editing tools and the European legislative framework.

The WeLASER project will create an autonomous robot with intelligent vision for detecting weeds and later applying a strong laser to exterminate them and prevent them from spreading.