Already deeply entrenched in the 21st century, humanity grapples with the task of managing the complex landscape it inhabits, confronting challenges ranging from climate change to pathogenic outbreaks and food safety concerns. Moreover, the pursuit of pragmatic, effective, and democratically accessible solutions to address these global issues remains a shared endeavour.
MALDIBANK proposes the creation of a global open-access platform that aggregates MALDI-TOF spectra from various microorganisms (such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, and microalgae) along with rich metadata, including geographic origin. This initiative aims to propel innovation in research by improving the identification of underrepresented microorganisms. Additionally, it seeks to streamline and reduce the costs associated with taxonomic microbial identification, subtype taxonomic data, and provide phenotypic predictions (e.g., antimicrobial resistance, identification of microorganisms in sample matrices, outbreak predictions, monitoring, and climate change surveillance), supported by artificial intelligence, deep learning data mining, and the refinement/development of existing algorithms.
Furthermore, the project envisions prototypes for integration with complementary tools like GENEBANK, KEGG, and SWISSPROT, among others, to ensure seamless interoperability and integration into the daily workflows of microbiologists across microbial culture collections staff, as well as public and private organisations researchers. It is worth noting that MALDIBANK will actively promote the reuse of existing and newly generated data, thereby maximising the return on public investment.
MALDIBANK will be the result of a collaborative and complementary effort involving four Research Infrastructures (RIs), three companies, and numerous research organisations. This collective endeavour embodies a win-win ethos, enhancing the usability of each partner's services to the advantage of users and, more broadly, for the betterment of public welfare.