Bridging the link between microbial biofilm and biodeterioration in cultural heritage research

Cultural heritage research has taken advantage of new techniques recently, specifically -omics, which have a huge impact on the ways scientific research conducted and knowledge obtained on cultural heritage for management and protection. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology has advanced our understanding of the complex microbial world in terms of the community composition and diversity in great depth to pave a good foundation knowledge. However, at the same time, the mechanism or specific biochemical reactions responsible for the destruction of heritage has not been identified and, more importantly, confirmed to a large extent or on a solid ground. Majority of the reports assume or take statistical correlation as evidence for conclusion on the biodeterioration taking place. Because of this, research on cultural heritage must embrace the critical opportunities to expand the research practice currently adopted with additional and innovative methods so that the biochemical and (eco)physiological functions of the specific microbes can be identified and substantiated for establishment of the supporting results of physical and chemical sciences to advance our knowledge base and the research framework or structure. A new and improved research paradigm is required to make significant progress on the research efforts to understand biodeterioration of cultural heritage and also for the protection and management.