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MIAME and MINSEQE guidelines

The MIAME (Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment) and MINSEQE (Minimum Information About a Next-generation Sequencing Experiment) guidelines outline the minimum information that should be included when describing a microarray or sequencing study. Many journals and funding agencies require microarray data to comply with MIAME and MINSEQE standards.

MIAME compliance is not related to the submission format or route, but rather to the content provided

GEO deposit procedures enable and encourage submitters to supply MIAME and MINSEQE compliant data. All GEO submission procedures are designed to closely follow the MIAME and MINSEQE checklists; if you provide all requested information, your submission will be compliant.

The six most critical elements contributing towards MIAME are:

  • Raw data for each assay (e.g., CEL or FASTQ files)
  • Final processed (normalized) data for the set of assays in the study (e.g., the gene expression data count matrix used to draw the conclusions in the study)
  • Essential sample annotation (e.g., tissue, sex and age) and the experimental factors and their values (e.g., compound and dose in a dose response study)
  • Experimental design including sample data relationships (e.g., which raw data file relates to which sample, which assays are technical, which are biological replicates)
  • Sufficient annotation of the array or sequence features examines (e.g., gene identifiers, genomic coordinates)
  • Essential laboratory and data processing protocols (e.g., what normalization method has been used to obtain the final processed data)

More information and background regarding GEO and data standards are discussed in this Nature Biotechnology correspondence.

Last modified: February 22, 2024