Mission

Cryo electron microscopy enables the determination of 3D structures of macromolecular complexes and cells from 2 to 100 Å resolution. EMDataResource.org (previously EMDataBank.org) was developed between 2007 and 2022 to provide a unified global portal for one-stop deposition and retrieval of 3DEM density maps, atomic models and associated metadata to the scientific community. Development was a joint effort among investigators of the Stanford/SLAC CryoEM Facility and the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) at Rutgers, in collaboration with the EMDB team at the European Bioinformatics Institute (2007-2022).

The major project goal was to work with the 3DEM community to (1) establish data-validation methods that can be used in the process of structure determination, (2) define the key indicators of a well-determined structure that should accompany every deposition, and (3) implement appropriate validation procedures for maps and map-derived models into a 3DEM validation pipeline.

The EM Validation Task Force (EM VTF) made initial recommendations to guide development of 3DEM validation criteria. We have aimed to facilitate the many processes needed to assess, establish, and disseminate validation methods and standards, including organization of community challenge activities.

Primary Reference: Lawson et al (2016) EMDataBank Unified Data Resource for 3DEM. Nucleic Acids Res. 2016 Jan 4;44(D1):D396-403.