A sea of standards for omics data: sink or swim?
In the era of Big Data, omic-scale technologies, and increasing calls for data sharing, it is generally agreed that the use of community-developed, open data standards is critical. Far less agreed upon is exactly which data standards should be used, the criteria by which one should choose a standard, or even what constitutes a data standard. It is impossible simply to choose a domain and have it naturally follow which data standards should be used in all cases. The 'right' standards to use is often dependent on the use case scenarios for a given project. Potential downstream applications for the data, however, may not always be apparent at the time the data are generated. Similarly, technology evolves, adding further complexity. Would-be standards adopters must strike a balance between planning for the future and minimizing the burden of compliance. Better tools and resources are required to help guide this balancing act.
Duke Translational Medicine Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Jessica D
JD
Tenenbaum
Susanna-Assunta
SA
Sansone
Melissa
M
Haendel
D015415:Biomarkers; D019992:Databases as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000592:standards*; D046228:Microarray Analysis / Q000592:standards
D015415:Biomarkers
Data Sharing; Data Standards; Information dissemination; Terminology