(Press-News.org) The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), in collaboration with the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), has developed a comprehensive roadmap toward an integrated biological and environmental data network. The initiative, known as the Building an Integrated, Open, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (BIOFAIR) Data Network project, addresses the urgent need to connect fragmented data held in biodiversity collections and other biological and environmental data repositories to tackle pressing societal challenges, including biodiversity loss, climate change, invasive species, and emerging public health threats.
The project, described in a recent article in the journal BioScience, was underpinned by extensive community engagement with ecological, climate, environmental, genetic, health, biodiversity informatics, and federal stakeholders. Through six virtual listening sessions, project organizers engaged 199 stakeholders representing 142 organizations, followed by a workshop with 75 participants affiliated with 110 organizations and initiatives. The collaborative effort developed five cross-cutting themes to guide data integration: stocktaking and gap analysis, technological capacity building, best practices and standards, education and training, and community building.
"Biodiversity collections, including over a billion specimens in the United States, offer unparalleled information for understanding evolution, biological processes, and biodiversity responses to environmental change," the authors explain. Uniting species occurrence data from collections with other data sources related to their biology, interactions with other organisms, and their physical environment will require thoughtful community coordination, they say, but the benefit to science could be massive: "An integrated data network... could enable transformative research across biology, ecology, public health, and environmental science." Such infrastructure could support forecasting biodiversity changes, predicting invasive species distributions, and informing public health policies in response to newly emerging diseases.
The project's organizers emphasize that success depends on both technical infrastructure and large-scale community action, stressing that building the BIOFAIR Network will require "an inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable community of data providers, managers, and users that can integrate across technical, educational, and policy boundaries to support collective data sharing."
Funded by the National Science Foundation (DBI award no. 2303588), more information on the BIOFAIR Data Network project can be found at https://bcon.aibs.org/biofair.
END
BIOFAIR roadmap for an integrated biological and environmental data network
Community-led initiative addresses data fragmentation in the biodiversity sciences
2025-10-15
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
SwRI, 8 Rivers patent more cost-effective, efficient power generation system with liquid oxygen storage
2025-10-15
SAN ANTONIO — October 15, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and 8 Rivers have patented a system that leverages fluctuations in energy demand by using liquid oxygen storage (LOX) to make power plants more cost-effective and efficient. To accomplish this, the Institute modified a recently developed power cycle, the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, which combusts fuel, like natural gas, using an oxygen and carbon dioxide mixture to allow complete carbon capture, producing minimal greenhouse gas emissions.
The Allam-Fetvedt Cycle ...
A sacred leaf on trial: Scientists urge WHO to support decriminalizing coca
2025-10-15
For thousands of years, people in the Andes have chewed the leaves of the coca plant to stave off hunger, treat altitude sickness, and sustain energy. Yet under international law, this ancient crop is treated as harshly as cocaine and fentanyl. Now, scientists say it’s time to end that contradiction.
A new international perspective published in Science argues that scientific evidence clearly supports the coca leaf as a benign, useful, and culturally paramount crop plant that should be removed from the list of Schedule I substances – where it currently ...
World’s largest superconducting fusion system will use American technology to measure the plasma within
2025-10-15
When the experimental fusion system known as JT-60SA comes online in 2026, it will be the world’s largest fusion machine: a crowning achievement for Japan and Europe, which partnered to build it. Now, the research team has turned to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) for critical measurement equipment.
The effort is part of a new agreement between PPPL, the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) of Japan and Europe’s Fusion for Energy (F4E), allowing for broader collaboration between the researchers.
“PPPL is among the first U.S. institutions to have its equipment installed ...
Mount Sinai receives $4.5 million NIH award to launch a pioneering women’s environmental health research training program
2025-10-15
New York, NY (October 15, 2025) – The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received a prestigious $4.5 million, five-year K12 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a pioneering program that will train the next generation of leaders in women’s health research.
The program, called the Mount Sinai Life-course Exposomics Analytic Program (LEAP) in Women’s Health, is led by Rosalind J. Wright, MD, MPH, Dean for Public Health and Chair of the Department of Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. LEAP is part ...
Strong grip strength may protect against obesity-related complications
2025-10-15
WASHINGTON—People with excess body fat who build and keep muscle may be less likely to develop obesity-induced heart, liver, or kidney damage or die early, according to a new study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Despite clear evidence that excess body fat can directly cause illness, obesity is often viewed as a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes rather than a chronic disease.
Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. BMI is ...
How to double lung cancer screening rates
2025-10-15
Lung cancer screening might be the best-kept secret in health care today. Only about 16 percent of those who are eligible in the U.S. get screened for lung cancer, but a study coming out in NEJM Catalyst on Wednesday provides a roadmap for how health systems can improve those numbers. The study details how the UR Medicine primary care network reached a nearly 72 percent lung cancer screening rate.
“Our biggest success was not only screening a high percentage of eligible patients, but also enrolling those patients in the comprehensive program to ensure they receive the necessary annual follow-up screenings,” said Robert Fortuna, MD, ...
Researchers ‘zoom’ in for an ultra-magnified peek at shark skin
2025-10-15
Have you ever wondered what makes shark skin so tough and sleek? It’s dermal denticles – tiny, tooth-like structures that cover a shark’s skin. Made of the same material as teeth and shaped like small scales with grooves, these microscopic armor plates aren’t just for show. Dermal denticles serve important roles in helping sharks glide effortlessly, and protect their skin, especially during mating.
Although much is known, researchers still lack a full understanding of how dermal denticle shape changes across different parts of the shark’s body as it grows and if there are differences between ...
AI system finds crucial clues for diagnoses in electronic health records
2025-10-15
New York, NY [October 15, 2025]—Doctors often must make critical decisions in minutes, relying on incomplete information. While electronic health records contain vast amounts of patient data, much of it remains difficult to interpret quickly—especially for patients with rare diseases or unusual symptoms.
Now, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators have developed an artificial intelligence system, called InfEHR, that links unconnected medical events over time, creating a diagnostic web that reveals hidden patterns. Published in the September 26 online issue of Nature Communications, the study shows that Inference on Electronic Health ...
Gut microbiota disruption predicts severe steatosis in MASLD patients
2025-10-15
A new study in eGastroenterology links gut dysbiosis with severe steatosis in metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In a 61-patient cohort, those with the inflammation-linked Bact2 enterotype developed severe steatosis at lower thresholds. Adding microbiota status to standard clinical tools improved diagnostic accuracy from 80% to 90%, suggesting a path toward earlier detection and personalized care.
MASLD: A Growing Global Burden
Metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease ...
WSU project reduces hospitalizations among home health-care patients
2025-10-15
SPOKANE, Wash. -- An estimated 90% of patients receiving home health care have at least one discrepancy between their medication lists and what they’re actually taking — making it more likely they will end up in the hospital.
A Washington State University initiative helped a Spokane home health care agency ensure its patients’ medication lists were in proper order and reduced hospitalizations of high-risk heart-failure patients by more than half over a 10-week period.
The project aimed to help nurses and other in-home clinicians “think like a pharmacist” when reviewing medication lists for patients. It combined interdisciplinary teamwork, training ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
A new reagent makes living brains transparent for deeper, non-invasive imaging
Smaller insects more likely to escape fish mouths
Failed experiment by Cambridge scientists leads to surprise drug development breakthrough
Salad packs a healthy punch to meet a growing Vitamin B12 need
Capsule technology opens new window into individual cells
We are not alone: Our Sun escaped together with stellar “twins” from galaxy center
Scientists find new way of measuring activity of cell editors that fuel cancer
Teens using AI meal plans could be eating too few calories — equivalent to skipping a meal
Inconsistent labeling and high doses found in delta-8 THC products: JSAD study
Bringing diabetes treatment into focus
Iowa-led research team names, describes new crocodile that hunted iconic Lucy’s species
One-third of Americans making financial trade-offs to pay for healthcare
Researchers clarify how ketogenic diets treat epilepsy, guiding future therapy development
PsyMetRiC – a new tool to predict physical health risks in young people with psychosis
Island birds reveal surprising link between immunity and gut bacteria
Research presented at international urology conference in London shows how far prostate cancer screening has come
Further evidence of developmental risks linked to epilepsy drugs in pregnancy
Cosmetic procedures need tighter regulation to reduce harm, argue experts
How chaos theory could turn every NHS scan into its own fortress
Vaccine gaps rooted in structural forces, not just personal choices: SFU study
Safer blood clot treatment with apixaban than with rivaroxaban, according to large venous thrombosis trial
Turning herbal waste into a powerful tool for cleaning heavy metal pollution
Immune ‘peacekeepers’ teach the body which foods are safe to eat
AAN issues guidance on the use of wearable devices
In former college athletes, more concussions associated with worse brain health
Racial/ethnic disparities among people fatally shot by U.S. police vary across state lines
US gender differences in poverty rates may be associated with the varying burden of childcare
3D-printed robotic rattlesnake triggers an avoidance response in zoo animals, especially species which share their distribution with rattlers in nature
Simple ‘cocktail’ of amino acids dramatically boosts power of mRNA therapies and CRISPR gene editing
Johns Hopkins scientists engineer nanoparticles able to seek and destroy diseased immune cells
[Press-News.org] BIOFAIR roadmap for an integrated biological and environmental data networkCommunity-led initiative addresses data fragmentation in the biodiversity sciences