On Mar. 23, 2018, University of Southern California (USC) researchers launched a massive scientific effort to construct a detailed, virtual 3-D model of the pancreatic beta cell and its components – a global project that aims to one day curb the worldwide rise of diabetes.

Diabetes cases have more than tripled worldwide since 1980, from an estimated 100 million to more than 400 million people, according to the World Health Organization. More than 30 million Americans have the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

In a commentary in the journal Cell, co-authors representing the new Pancreatic Beta Cell Consortium at USC have announced what they described as a “call to arms” inviting scientists worldwide to join the cause and help model the cell at an atomic scale and whole-cell scale. The consortium ambitiously aims to complete the project in five years.

The effort calls upon an array of experts in biology, chemistry, computational biology (modeling), engineering, mathematics and imaging. The group also includes artists and filmmakers. Stevens said he believes the nonscientists may provide a unique and useful perspective on interpretation of their research.

The effort has been described as “crowd-sourced science.” Like the Human Genome Project, the beta cell project is open source, meaning the consortium is establishing an open data bank to which anyone can deposit research and data about the pancreatic beta cell. Multiple sets of data will be integrated to form the multiscale model of the cell and all of its components, from the tiniest — individual atoms — to the largest — the nucleus. For quality control, consortium scientists will curate and vet all contributions.

The launch point for this convergent scientific effort, the Bridge Institute at USC Michelson Center, is fitting. The center comprises engineers and scientists from three schools at USC – the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine of USC. They are working together to develop new treatments, diagnostics and devices to solve the greatest challenges of the 21st century, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Collaborators in the consortium are from top-ranked institutions including Caltech, the University of California, San Francisco, The Scripps Research Institute and the iHuman Institute at ShanghaiTech University. They are working together to develop new treatments, diagnostics and devices to solve diabetes, one of the greatest challenges of the modern era.