Minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME) - toward standards for microarray data

Microarray analysis has become a widely used tool for the generation of gen e expression data on a genomic scale. Although many significant results hav e been derived from microarray studies, one limitation has been the lack of standards for presenting and exchanging such data. Here we present a propo sal, the Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME), that de scribes the minimum information required to ensure that microarray data can be easily interpreted and that results derived from its analysis can be in dependently verified. The ultimate goal of this work is to establish a stan dard for recording and reporting microarray-based gene expression data, whi ch will in turn facilitate the establishment of databases and public reposi tories and enable the development of data analysis tools. With respect to M IAME, we concentrate on defining the content and structure of the necessary information rather than the technical format for capturing it.