European Research Project to Support Knowledge-Based Life-Science Experiments

A pan-European infrastructure effort has been undertaken to protect and nurture data generated in life-science research. The essential goal of the project is to ensure that Europe can continue to manage a rapidly growing volume and variety of data from high-throughput research such as DNA sequencing.

The correct handling of this information promotes knowledge-based economic growth, and eases the conversion of research into advances that meet global challenges in food security, energy, and health. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI; Hinxton, Cambridgeshire , UK) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC; Swindon, Wiltshire, UK) welcome the announcement from the UK Government of a GBP 75 million commitment from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Large Facilities Capital Fund (LFCF) for the ELIXIR research infrastructure.

The new funding will allow the construction of ELIXIR’s central hub at EMBL-EBI on the Wellcome Trust Genome campus in Hinxton (Cambridge, UK). The hub will be the nerve center for bioinformatics in Europe, coordinating the delivery of services and user training from several centers of excellence Europe-wide. The hub will also establish a robust computing infrastructure that can handle the rising tide of life science data.

“This commitment from the UK Government to ELIXIR stressed the growing importance of biological information to every citizen,” said Prof. Janet Thornton, director of EMBL-EBI and coordinator of the preparatory phase of ELIXIR, which is funded under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program. “This funding puts Europe in a uniquely strong position to solve some of society’s most pressing problems, with the UK right in the middle of the action. In the future we expect similar commitments from ELIXIR’s members around Europe to build their nodes.”

Prof. Søren Brunak of the Technical University of Denmark (Lyngby) and chair of the interim ELIXIR board, said, “In the organization of the ELIXIR bioinformatics infrastructure the hub is essential. In order for the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts, we need strong coordination of activities across the different nodes in Europe. The decision to fund the construction of ELIXIR’s central hub is therefore a very important milestone in the development of the distributed infrastructure and we hope that ELIXIR members will in future contribute to its operation.”

Prof. Douglas Kell, chief executive of BBSRC, said, “Modern life science research has the potential to touch every one of our lives. But in order to support economic growth, new jobs, and to improve our standards of living we need better ways to handle the unimaginable amount of data modern approaches generate. The collaborative and centrally accessible approach represented by ELIXIR is the most effective and efficient way for life scientists to store, manage, share, and interpret information. Through ELIXIR, we are ensuring our researchers have access to the best infrastructure and services now and in the future. ELIXIR will help us maximize the outputs and impact of the UK’s world-leading life science research base.”

Louise Leong, head of research and development at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, commented, “The rapid advent of new science and technologies means that pharmaceutical research and development is increasingly complex, multidisciplinary, and interdependent. R&D therefore relies on effective coordination and curation of life-science data. Without good access to such data, time, and resources are wasted duplicating effort, which could be spent creating innovative new medicines. ELIXIR will ensure that public data resources are sufficiently diverse and forward-looking enough to remain relevant to business needs.”

ELIXIR has the potential to enhance the development of Europe-based R&D business in fields ranging from pharmaceuticals to agriculture. Significant financial contributions towards the construction of ELIXIR nodes throughout Europe have already been made by Denmark, Finland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The operational costs of the hub will be met by shared contributions from participating countries.

BBSRC has already funded the ELIXIR program with a GBP 10 million investment. As of November 2011, ten countries and EMBL have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stating their commitment to making ELIXIR a reality: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK have all formally lent their support to the project. Several other countries are expected to join in the near future; all European countries are invited to engage with ELIXIR.

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) is part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and is located on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus in Hinxton near Cambridge (UK). The EBI grew out of EMBL’s innovative work in providing public biological databases to the research community. It hosts some of the world’s most important collections of biologic data, including DNA sequences (EMBL-Bank), protein sequences (UniProt), animal genomes (Ensembl), three-dimensional structures (the Protein Databank in Europe), data from gene expression experiments (ArrayExpress), protein-protein interactions (IntAct), and pathway information (Reactome). The EBI hosts several research groups and its scientists continually develop new tools for the biocomputing community.

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is a basic research institute funded by public research monies from 20 member states (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) and associate member state Australia. Research at EMBL is conducted by approximately 85 independent groups covering the spectrum of molecular biology.

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation focused achieving improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s range of support includes public engagement, education, and the application of research to improve health.

Related Links:
European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
ELIXIR Project