Searching for array standards in Rockville. A recent US NIH meeting produced a draft pilot protocol to facilitate microarray data sharing

• Published in: Nature biotechnology 2001-05, Vol.19 (5), p.418-419
• Main Authors: Star, R A, Rasooly, R S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: DNA microarrays
• ISSN: 1087-0156
• DOI: 10.1038/88070

Twenty-three research groups funded by microarray initiatives at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH; Rockville, MD) recently took part in a meeting to discuss current logistical challenges in microarray research and formulate a strategy for facilitating progress in the field. After extensive discussion, a plan was proposed incorporating the establishment of effective communication tools, use of a standard subset of several hundred genes, adoption of a single gene-naming protocol, design of a set of standard quality controls, and the development of a control pool of RNA, together with the requisite bioinformatics tools. The US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI; Rockville, MD) Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) was suggested as an ideal repository for microarray data. We believe that such an arrangement could serve as a model for other national/international microarray data curation/storage efforts.