Could we… use AI to find bat viruses in museum specimens?
18 March 2024
Bats comprise around one in five named mammal species and are found on every continent except Antarctica. In recent decades, bats have been implicated as potential hosts of several viruses that cause high fatality rates in humans. Still, despite years of research, there’s a lot we don’t know about bat virus ecology, hindering the ability of experts to anticipate and prepare for the next potential pandemic. A repository of untapped data could help shed light on the relationship between bat ecology and viral emergence. In my project, supported by the Accelerate and Cambridge Centre for Data Driven Discovery funding call, I am exploring using AI and natural history museum collections for host prediction and viral surveillance.