MOSBRI Conference at Biotechnology Institute Tackles Data Management Challenges in Biophysics

Vestec, Czech Republic — Last week, the Institute of Biotechnology hosted the MOSBRI conference at BIOCEV, where leading researchers, data repository experts, and biophysicsist convened to address critical challenges in the field: effective data management and accessibility. The two-day event, held on November 7th and 8th, fostered discussions on advancements in interoperability and integrative approaches to data sharing and analysis.

As biophysical research generates increasingly complex and divers datasets, the need for standardized and accessible data has become more urgent. Researchers frequently encounter challenges in tracking measurement methods and data provenance, particularly when attempting to reanalyze data with alternative models or conduct large-scale meta-analyses. With varied standards for Methods and Materials sections across journals, and the scarcity of structured data storage, the need for improved data management practices has become a priority in the field. For many experimental methods, there is no way to access structured datasets and thus any development of machine learning-based approaches is impossible.

Advancing FAIR Principles and Data Interoperability in Biophysics

The MOSBRI conference emphasized the importance of making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR), paving the way for easy searching and more AI-ready data systems. By bringing together key stakeholders from biophysical repositories and databases, the event promoted collaboration and innovation in data management strategies.

The conference featured an impressive lineup of keynote speakers who presented the latest developments in data interoperability and resource integration, including:

• Maria-Jesus Martin from UniProt on “UniProt and FAIR: Fostering Interoperability in Biological Data”
• Brinda Vallat from PDB-dev with “PDB-IHM: Integrative and Hybrid Structures in the PDB Archive”
• Bonnie Wallace from PCDDB on “PCDDB – Providing Access to Spectra and Metadata for CD and SRCD Spectroscopy”
• Barbara Zdrazil from ChEMBL on “Chemical Biology Resources at EMBL-EBI: Promoting FAIR and AI-ready Data”
• Juan Antonio Vizcaino from PRIDE with “The PRIDE Database and ProteomeXchange: How FAIR Data Practices Have Revolutionised the Proteomics Field”

These presentations explored how these repositories paved the way for defining and advancing the FAIR principles, and how they improve data reusability, and enable semi-automatic analyses for researchers worldwide. With a focus on enhancing accessibility and collaboration, the MOSBRI conference addressed the data challenges faced by biophysicists and presented new strategies for managing and utilizing raw measurement data effectively. In a Consensus meeting, the conference participants discussed the main challenges in data management in molecular biophysics, including definition of minimal metadata, the wide spectrum of data formats and users’ expectations in this area.

The MOSBRI activities in data management was al presented. The result is the development of the Molecular Biophysics Database, that focus on raw data from molecular biophysics.