The minimum information about a genome sequence (MIGS) specification

Authors

Dawn Field, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and HydrologyFollow
George Garrity, Michigan State University
Tanya Gray, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Norman Morrison, University of Manchester
Jeremy Selengut, J. Craig Venter Institute
Peter Sterk, European Bioinformatics Institute
Tatiana Tatusova, National Library of Medicine
Nicholas Thomson, Sanger Institute
Michael J. Allen, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Samuel V. Angiuoli, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Michael Ashburner, University of Cambridge
Nelson Axelrod, J. Craig Venter Institute
Sandra Baldauf, University of York Box
Stuart Ballard, University of Cambridge
Jeffrey Boore, US Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute
Guy Cochrane, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
James Cole, Michigan State University
Peter Dawyndt, Ghent University
Paul De Vos, Ghent University
Claude dePamphilis, Penn State University
Robert Edwards, San Diego State University
Nadeem Faruque, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
Robert Feldman, SymBio Corporation
Jack Gilbert, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Paul Gilna, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology
Frank Oliver Glöckner, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and Jacobs University Bremen
Philip Goldstein, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and University of Colorado Natural History Museum
Robert Guralnick, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and University of Colorado Natural History Museum
Dan Haft, J. Craig Venter Institute
David Hancock, University of Manchester
Henning Hermjakob, European Bioinformatics Institute
Christiane Hertz-Fowler, Sanger Institute
Phil Hugenholtz, DOE Joint Genome Institute
Ian Joint, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Leonid Kagan, J. Craig Venter Institute
Matthew Kane, The National Science Foundation
Jessie Kennedy, Napier University
George Kowalchuk, Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Renzo Kottmann, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and Jacobs University Bremen
Eugene Kolker, BIATECH Institute
Saul Kravitz, J. Craig Venter Institute
Nikos Kyrpides, DOE Joint Genome Institute
Jim Leebens-Mack, University of Georgia
Suzanna E. Lewis, University of California - Berkeley
Kelvin Li, J. Craig Venter Institute
Allyson L. Lister, Newcastle University
Phillip Lord, Newcastle University
Natalia Maltsev, Argonne National Laboratory
Victor Markowitz, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Jennifer Martiny, University of California - Irvine
Barbara Methe, J. Craig Venter Institute
Ilene Mizrachi, National Library of Medicine
Richard Moxon, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and University of Oxford Department of Paediatrics
Karen Nelson, Howard University
Julian Parkhill, Sanger Institute
Lita Proctor, The National Science Foundation
Owen White, University of Maryland School of MedicineFollow
Susanna-Assunta Sansone, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
Andrew Spiers, SIMBIOS Centre
Robert Stevens, University of Manchester
Paul Swift, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Chris Taylor, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
Yoshio Tateno, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems
Adrian Tett, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Sarah Turner, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
David Ussery, The Technical University of Denmark
Bob Vaughan, European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
Naomi Ward, University of Wyoming
Trish Whetzel, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Ingio San Gil, University of New Mexico
Gareth Wilson, Natural Environmental Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Anil Wipat, Newcastle University

Date of this Version

2008

Citation

NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY VOLUME 26 NUMBER 5 MAY 2008; doi:10.1038/1360

Abstract

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.