Department of Biology

FlyBase has been recognized as an elite, open-access, international biological knowledge base by induction into the Global Biodata Coalition's first collection of Global Core Biodata Resources (GCBRs).

FlyBase is a multi-university consortium of curators and computer developers for an online knowledge base that supports research with Drosophila (fruit fly). The Indiana University Bloomington FlyBase team focuses on computer development for the public website. During 2021, there were 10.4 million page views of FlyBase by users from around the world.

The Global Biodata Coalition is a forum for research funders to efficiently manage and expand biodata resources worldwide in an effort to sustain financial support for the global biodata infrastructure. The coalition has identified an initial group of 37 GCBRs whose long-term funding and sustainability is crucial to life science and biomedical research throughout the world.

This first list of GCBRs was selected through a rigorous two-stage competition that was open to biodata resources globally. More than 60 resources submitted expressions of interest. At each stage of the selection process, the candidate biodata resources were assessed by a panel of more than 50 independent expert reviewers against a series of criteria that included their scientific focus, the size and reach of their user communities, their quality of service, their governance, and their impact on global research. Selection of FlyBase for this inaugural list highlights its international prominence.

IU Bloomington is a world leader in Drosophila research. In addition to FlyBase, the Department of Biology maintains two other federally funded centers essential to international Drosophila research: The Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, which propagates and distributes over 80,000 genetically unique fly strains and typically ships 220,000 samples to 50 countries every year, and the Drosophila Genomic Resource Center, a repository for materials used in biotechnology research with flies. The DGRC maintains 1.3 million DNA clones and 245 fly cell lines. It shipped 2,500 samples to labs in 30 countries in FY22.

The genes and physiology of flies are remarkably like those in humans, making it possible for Drosophila research to uncover the cellular basis for many human diseases and develop better medical treatments. Nearly 4,000 biomedical labs worldwide use Drosophila in their research.