EMDB: dealing with the cryo-EM data deluge

Decades of research (rewarded with the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) have led to revolutionary developments in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), with further improvements underway (phase plates, robotics). The Wellcome Trust and other funders have recognised the importance of cryo-EM and made substantial investments in infrastructure. These developments together cause a vast increase in the amount and diversity of experimental data emanating from molecular and cellular structural studies. EMDB (Electron Microscopy Data Bank), maintained by EMBL-EBI with international partners, is the single global archive of 3D cryo-EM reconstructions. This project will address major archiving challenges caused by the rapid growth of the cryo-EM field. Its aims are: 1. Handling the increasing volume, complexity and diversity of EM data depositions. 2. Data enrichment and validation - by enriching EMDB entries with biological annotations, expanding the volume of biologically-annotated segmentations in EMDB by exploiting crowd-sourcing initiatives and machine-learning techniques and developing and maintaining validation tools and resources for EMDB. 3. Enabling effective use of EMDB data - by developing new and improved web-based resources for searching, analysing and visualising EMDB data and developing tools and resources that facilitate the use of EMDB data by other bioinformatics resources.