The UB: partner of the European project COSMOS to generate and promote new models to exchange metabolomics data

To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS.
To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS.
(29/04/2013)

 

To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS (Coordination of Standards in Metabolomics), funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission. Its main partners are the Group on Cancer, Metabolomics and Integrative Systems Biology (BioSilMeC) of the UB, headed by Professor Marta Cascante, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute), of Heidelberg, which coordinates the project. The main aim of COSMOS is to generate and promote new standards with make easier to share and disseminate metabolomics data through scientific networks.

To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS.
To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS.
29/04/2013

 

To foster interaction among the groups which lead metabolomics research in Europe is the main objective of the project COSMOS (Coordination of Standards in Metabolomics), funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission. Its main partners are the Group on Cancer, Metabolomics and Integrative Systems Biology (BioSilMeC) of the UB, headed by Professor Marta Cascante, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute), of Heidelberg, which coordinates the project. The main aim of COSMOS is to generate and promote new standards with make easier to share and disseminate metabolomics data through scientific networks.

 
COSMOS gathers top laboratories in the fields of metabolomics and fluxomics in an international excellence consortium which includes, besides the partners mentioned, the universities of Oxford, Birmingham and Manchester, the Medical Research Council and the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (United Kingdom), Leiden University and TNO (Netherlands), the institutes Max Planck and Leibniz-Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Germany), the Interuniversity Consortium for the Magnetic Resonance of Paramagnetic Metalloproteins (CIRMMP-CERM, Italy), the University of Bordeaux Segalen (France) and the VTT Technical Research Center (Finland).

 

Metabolic processes play a key role in controlling the physiological state of the body. Therefore, the study of metabolites profiles present in a biological sample (such as sugars, hormones, or fatty acids) led us to conclusions not only about the physiological state of the system studied at a certain moment, but also about its future evolution. Tumour progression in a cancer patient, the ability of a microorganism to produce substances (harmful, industry interesting or related to the production of renewable energy), or the characterization of the general state of health of a person, are some examples of the large number of relevant questions that can be answered by studying bodyʼs metabolism. Consequently, metabolic characterization studies are increasing and being developed in many different fields such as toxicology, biotechnology, nutrition or medicine. The great significance of the project COSMOS relies on the high number of science and biotechnology fields are involved in it.

 

Metabolomics, a discipline which aims at identifying metabolic profiles, allows characterizing the state of an organism (or a group of organisms) through an in-depth analysis of most small molecules in cells, tissues and biological fluids. The huge amount of data generated by metabolomic studies requires some analysis capabilities which can only be achieved by means of virtual infrastructures applied to scientific research. These infrastructures must be enough powerful and structured to allow, on one hand, the acquisition and storage of large amounts of information, and on the other hand, its spreading based on open and commonly accepted standards.

 

Data generated by scientific institutions increases, so the most urgent need now is to find ways of exchanging data among research groups in a practical and simple way. Current lacks in this sense make that, even today, researchers usually cannot use, evaluate, compare or even reproduce the data generated by their colleagues and collaborators.

 

The project COSMOS, funded with two million euros by the European Commission, will contribute to solve this problem. The research group led by Professor Cascante and its European partners, leaders in their respective fields of research, will develop standards and recommendations to ensure that all the information generated from international research would be filed using new common and open standards and distributed through open access in coordination with enterprises and scientific publishers. The interconnection with other scientific, biomedical and life sciences research institutions will receive special attention.

 

Thanks to this coordinated effort, metabolic data will, finally, be accessible for everyone in an easy and comparable way. Therefore, generation of synergies among worldwide research scientists will be greatly enhanced. The European Research Projects Office UB - Bosch i Gimpera Foundation is responsible for the economic and financial management of the project.