RNA virus discovery has seen an explosive couple of years, and there’s no signs of slowing down. Yet, there is a rapidly growing schism in how this growing influx of RNA virus data should be identified, analysed, quantified, reported, and shared. The analysis and identification of viral RNA Dependent RNA Polymerases (RdRps) is in the centre of this, and the current methodological divergence makes it difficult to evaluate each other’s findings and build on each other’s work. To advance the field and promote reproducibility and collaboration, we are delighted to invite you to the first “RdRp Summit” – a discussion centric event dedicated to establishing an interoperable framework for environmental/uncultivated RNA virology.
We hope to publish the proceedings from these discussions as a consensus statement (similar to MIUViG, doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4306 or “Virus taxonomy in an age of metagenomics” doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.177).
Our main goal is to make RNA virus discovery more interoperable:
- Establish minimal reporting standards for (non-cultivated, meta/+omics derived) RNA Viruses.
- Establish a community consensus on the fundamental terms and methodologies for such RNA virus discovery.
- Define a standardized Viral RdRp meta-data format.
We are fully open to any other potential outcomes that could benefit the field – if you have any ideas, make sure to sign up!