As industrial biotechnology becomes increasingly digital and data-driven, the amount of information generated by fermentation experiments continues to grow. But generating more data does not automatically make that data more useful. Without consistent ways to describe experiments, equipment, conditions, and measurements, valuable datasets can remain difficult to find, compare, integrate, and reuse.
What information do we need to record today to make fermentation data useful tomorrow?
A new open-access publication in GigaScience (Georgakilas et al., 2026) addresses exactly this question, introducing MIFE and MIFD: Minimum Information for Fermentation Experiments and Devices. Developed by researchers from across the industrial biotechnology community, including partners involved in Bioindustry 4.0, the two models provide a common framework for describing fermentation experiments and the devices used to perform them.
MIFE defines the minimum information needed to describe a fermentation experiment, while MIFD focuses on the devices and equipment behind it. Rather than creating an isolated new standard, the framework builds on established models and community standards, making it easier to integrate with existing research infrastructure and data-management practices.
The goal is bigger than consistent documentation. By making experimental metadata more structured and interoperable, MIFE and MIFD support the adoption of FAIR principles — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reproducible — in industrial biotechnology. That creates a stronger foundation for sharing and comparing fermentation data across laboratories, organisations and digital infrastructures.
For Bioindustry 4.0, this kind of standardisation is an important part of making smart biomanufacturing work in practice. Digital tools, advanced analytics and AI are only as useful as the data they can understand and connect. Common descriptions for fermentation experiments and devices help turn individual datasets into reusable knowledge.
Read the whole publication:
Georgakilas, G. K., Metcalfe, B., et al. (2026). MIFE and MIFD: Minimum information for fermentation experiments and devices. GigaScience, 15. https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giag038