'Omics Data Sharing: the Investigation / Study / Assay (ISA) Infrastructure

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There is a pressing and recognized need in the biological domain for improved data sharing and unified access to data from a wide range of sources. The use of 'omics technologies (such as genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) is now wide-spread and the rate at which these technologies generate data is revolutionizing the scientific landscape. This massive influx of data brings both unprecedented scientific opportunities and a range of challenges that must be met if these data, and the public investment in science that they represent, are to be fully exploited. While there are many obstacles to overcome if we are to realize large-scale multi-omic data sharing at the community level, solutions are now possible due to the activities of a range of grass-roots standardisation projects including the 'Minimum Information for Biological and Biomedical Investigations' (MIBBI) project (http://mibbi.org/) and the Open Biological Ontologies (OBO) Foundry (http://obofoundry.org/). We propose to make more widely available our 'omics data sharing software based on the 'Investigation / Study / Assay' (ISA) concept (http://isatab.sf.net). The ISA concept allows the description of any 'Investigation' comprising one or more 'Studies' in which biological samples have been studied using one or more 'Assays' (technologies). The ISA concept is supported by the MIBBI community and has been used to structure a universal file format, ISA-Tab. The ISA-Tab file format leverages biologists' familiarity with, and trust of spreadsheet-based input and manipulation of information. Descriptive experimental information (metadata) captured in ISA-Tab format is made compliant with MIBBI-registered standards (for transcriptomics, MIAME; for proteomics, MIAPE; and for genomics, MIGS/MIMS) using pre-defined extensions. ISA-Tab can be configured to hold additional fields allowing users to comply with emerging standards as well. The availability of this universal file format has enabled the creation of a set of tools and a database to hold data sets captured in it. The current pilot-stage ISA Infrastructure provides a complete solution for managing multi-omic metadata at the community level. A core aspect of the design of the ISA Infrastructure is its integral use of OBO Foundry ontologies to describe investigations, rendering data descriptions unambiguous and computationally accessible. In the course of this proposed project, we will extend the current ISA Infrastructure implementation and work with identified research communities and their bioinformatic service providers to set up 'ISA Networks' in the UK and around the globe, covering a wide range of data types. These portals will serve as 'one-stop shops' for the aggregation and display of relevant datasets at the community level. The metadata captured will support searching and data discovery across organisms, technologies and data types. The shared use of minimum information standards, ontologies and a single file format will support exchange of data between communities and the transfer of data to and from public repositories. At the international level, we will work closely with the MIBBI and OBO Foundry communities to further unify MIBBI checklists and OBO Foundry ontologies to support descriptions of multi-omic investigations. The development of the ISA Infrastructure must be consensus-driven and is therefore best developed under the auspices of an international working group. We will therefore formalise the collaboration between ISA Networks and work within the data standardisation community to increase linkages between currently separated groups by launching the BioSharing Consortium (http://biosharing.org).