20 Years of MODOMICS: The Largest Update of the RNA Modification Database
The twentieth anniversary of the MODOMICS database coincides with its most extensive expansion to date. Prof. Janusz Bujnicki’s team has released 48,000 RNA sequences with modified residues.
MODOMICS, developed in 2005 and maintained by the research team led by Prof. Janusz Bujnicki at IIMCB, constitutes the world’s most comprehensive collection of information concerning RNA modifications. The database gathers data on the chemical structures of modified ribonucleosides, their biosynthetic pathways, the location of modified residues in RNA sequences, and RNA modifying enzymes.
The latest article describing MODOMICS in Nucleic Acids Research presents the sixth and the most extensive expansion to date, introducing more than 48,000 RNA sequences from human cells with reliably identified modification sites. This collection was developed in collaboration with Prof. Christoph Dieterich's group in Heidelberg, based on data from their recently developed Sci-ModoM database. The update also includes contributions from Prof. Silvestro Conticello's group in Florence regarding methods for RNA sequencing with the determination of modification sites.
New data generated by Prof. Bujnicki’s team at IIMCB enrich the database with e.g., an interactive map of chemical similarity of modified nucleosides and nucleotides, quantum-mechanical descriptors of individual structures, and updated data on RNA modification enzymes.
“MODOMICS enjoys significant interest worldwide and attracts many collaborators,” says Prof. Janusz Bujnicki. “It is also now a key component of the Human RNome Project, whose aim is to determine and analyze the sequences and modifications of all RNA molecules in human cells. With this latest update, MODOMICS further strengthens its role as the central knowledge base on RNA modifications, essential both for future discoveries and for the development of new practical applications.”
Details of the sixth major update of the database were described in an article published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. See the publication here: ”MODOMICS: a database of RNA modifications and related information. 2025 update and 20th anniversary”.