A widely accepted standard for the exchange of results coming from a MicroArray experiment, as ambitioned by MIAME, serves a two-fold goal. First of all, for any scientific result to be meaningful, it needs to be reproducible. To this end, one needs a clear, unambiguous and complete check-list of the experimental conditions and protocols used in a given MicroArray experiment. However, due to the complex and labor-intensive nature of the steps involved, it is not straightforward to which level of detail a 'minimum' standard should confine itself and even whether this level is absolute over time.

A second goal involves granting increased lifetime to the data by making them sufficiently detailed and accessible to researchers querying MicroArray databases that contain a great variety experiments. Although MIAME is a formal specification and no data structure, it is conceived to facilitate the development of databases and as a basis for MicroArray data exchange in general.

The MGED group is "a grass-roots movement whose goal is to facilitate the adoption of standards for DNA-array experiment annotation and data representation, as well as the introduction of standard experimental controls and data normalization methods" and encapsulates the MIAME standardization efforts.

Further details on the goals, the feasibility and an elaborate discussion of MIAME 1.0 are found in publication 01-124.

01-124

Brazma A., Hingamp P., Quakenbush J., Sherlock G., Spellman P., Stoeckert C., Aach J., Ansorge W., Ball C., Causton H., Gaasterland T., Glenisson P., Holstege F., Kim I., Markowitz V., Matese J., Parkinson H., Robinson A., Sarkans U., Schulze-Kremer S., Stewart J., Taylor R., Vilo J., Vingron M., ``Minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME) - towards standards for microarray data'', Nature Genetics, vol. 29, Dec. 2001, pp. 365-371.