The Natural History Museum is planning to digitise most of the UK’s 137 million national science specimens to make the data available to researchers from around the world.
It has received a £155 million share of UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund to support its Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo).
This has the capacity to capture images of specimens such as pinned insects, pressed plants or micro-fossils and log them with key data such as where and when it was collected.
UKRI said this can support research into new solutions for global problems such as supporting biodiversity and protections against future pandemics.
It is also expected to generate around £2 billion of economic benefits for the UK through advances such as developing new drugs and discovering sources of minerals.
Tools for innovators
Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “As science and technology develops faster than ever, it is vital we ensure UK innovators have the right tools at their disposal to continue groundbreaking work from revolutionising medicine to protecting the world we live in for generations to come.
“From digitising millions of specimens to help halt future pandemics, to building the most powerful microscope of its type right here in the UK to improve drug design, to better information sharing between labs, our £473 million investment infrastructure will set the conditions that allow our brightest minds to thrive and build a healthier and more prosperous UK.”
