Perspective abstract

Nature Biotechnology 26, 541 - 547 (2008)
Published online: 8 May 2008 | doi:10.1038/nbt1360

The minimum information about a genome sequence (MIGS) specification

Dawn Field1, George Garrity2, Tanya Gray1, Norman Morrison3,4, Jeremy Selengut5, Peter Sterk6, Tatiana Tatusova7, Nicholas Thomson8, Michael J Allen9, Samuel V Angiuoli5,10, Michael Ashburner5,10, Nelson Axelrod5, Sandra Baldauf12, Stuart Ballard13, Jeffrey Boore14, Guy Cochrane6, James Cole2, Peter Dawyndt15, Paul De Vos16,17, Claude dePamphilis18, Robert Edwards19,20, Nadeem Faruque6, Robert Feldman21, Jack Gilbert9, Paul Gilna22, Frank Oliver Glöckner23, Philip Goldstein24, Robert Guralnick24, Dan Haft5, David Hancock3,4, Henning Hermjakob6, Christiane Hertz-Fowler8, Phil Hugenholtz25, Ian Joint9, Leonid Kagan5, Matthew Kane26, Jessie Kennedy27, George Kowalchuk28, Renzo Kottmann23, Eugene Kolker29,30,31, Saul Kravitz5, Nikos Kyrpides32, Jim Leebens-Mack33, Suzanna E Lewis34, Kelvin Li5, Allyson L Lister35,36, Phillip Lord35, Natalia Maltsev20, Victor Markowitz37, Jennifer Martiny38, Barbara Methe5, Ilene Mizrachi7, Richard Moxon39, Karen Nelson5,40, Julian Parkhill8, Lita Proctor26, Owen White10, Susanna-Assunta Sansone6, Andrew Spiers42, Robert Stevens3, Paul Swift1, Chris Taylor6, Yoshio Tateno43, Adrian Tett1, Sarah Turner1, David Ussery44, Bob Vaughan6, Naomi Ward45, Trish Whetzel46, Ingio San Gil41, Gareth Wilson1 & Anil Wipat35,36

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With the quantity of genomic data increasing at an exponential rate, it is imperative that these data be captured electronically, in a standard format. Standardization activities must proceed within the auspices of open-access and international working bodies. To tackle the issues surrounding the development of better descriptions of genomic investigations, we have formed the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC). Here, we introduce the minimum information about a genome sequence (MIGS) specification with the intent of promoting participation in its development and discussing the resources that will be required to develop improved mechanisms of metadata capture and exchange. As part of its wider goals, the GSC also supports improving the 'transparency' of the information contained in existing genomic databases.

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  1. Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK.
  2. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
  3. School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
  4. NERC Environmental Bioinformatics Centre, Oxford Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK.
  5. J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), 9704 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA.
  6. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Outstation, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK.
  7. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20894, USA.
  8. Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
  9. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK.
  10. Institute for Genome Sciences and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
  11. Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.
  12. Department of Biology, University of York Box 373, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
  13. National Institute of Environmental eScience, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK.
  14. US Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA.
  15. Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S9, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  16. Laboratory of Microbiology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  17. BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  18. Penn State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
  19. Department of Computer Science, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182, USA.
  20. Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
  21. SymBio Corporation, 1455 Adams Drive, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
  22. California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), a University of California San Diego (UCSD)/University of California Irvine partnership, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California, 92093, USA.
  23. Microbial Genomics Group, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen 28359 Germany.
  24. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and University of Colorado Natural History Museum, 218 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
  25. Microbial Ecology Program, DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Building 400-404, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA.
  26. The National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA.
  27. School of Computing, Napier University, Merchiston Campus, 10 Colington Road Edinburgh, Scotland, EH10 5DT, UK.
  28. Department of Terrestrial Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, PO Box 40, Heteren 6666 ZG, Netherlands.
  29. BIATECH Institute, 19310 North Creek Parkway South, Suite 115, Bothell, Washington 98011, USA.
  30. Division of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Information, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 91895, USA.
  31. Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, 1900 9th Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA.
  32. Genome Biology Program, DOE Joint Genome Institute, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Building 400-404, Walnut Creek, California 94598, USA.
  33. Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-7271, USA.
  34. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, 539 Life Sciences Addition, Berkeley, California 94720-3200, USA.
  35. School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
  36. Centre for Integrative Systems Biology of Ageing and Nutrition (CISBAN), Henry Wellcome Laboratory for Biogerontology Research, Newcastle University, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE, UK.
  37. Biological Data Management and Technology Center, Computational Research Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
  38. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 455 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, California 92697, USA.
  39. Molecular Infectious Diseases Group, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and University of Oxford Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
  40. Department of Biology, Howard University, 415 College Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
  41. LTER Network Office, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87171, USA.
  42. SIMBIOS Centre, University of Abertay Dundee, Dundee, DD1 1HG, UK.
  43. Center for Information Biology and DNA Data Bank of Japan, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
  44. Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, The Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
  45. Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA.
  46. Center for Bioinformatics and Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 14th Floor Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

Correspondence to: Dawn Field1 e-mail: dfield@ceh.ac.uk



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