PNNL

Abstract

Herein, we present for consideration such a specification, termed “Minimum Information Specification For In Situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry Experiments (MISFISHIE)”. It is modelled after the MIAME (Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment) specification for microarray experiments. The purpose of data standards like MIAME and MISFISHIE is to specify information content without specifying a format for encoding that information. The MISFISHIE standard specifies six sections of information that must be detailed for each experiment: Experimental Design, Specimens, Reporters, Staining, Imaging Data, and Image Characterizations. A general checklist is provided to quickly and efficiently establish adherence to the standard. Currently, we estimate that most articles describing gene expression localization studies, such as in situ hybridization assays, do not fully provide the minimum information needed for independent verification of results. In a small survey of 32 journal articles from the past five years, we found that nearly 90% did not meet all the requirements, although many met most of them. We propose that requiring authors to provide the minimum experimental detail about gene expression localization experiments would substantially facilitate reproducibility and interpretability of results by fellow investigators. Furthermore, inclusion of specific experimental details such as reagents and methods in publications would ultimately allow others to readily search the literature for these data items, especially given the ongoing trend towards open access full text journals.