( uted the sequence. Several more me...)DOE JGI sets 'gold standard' for metagenomic data analysis

Several more methods have been proposed for binning, but none of these on their own have proven satisfactory, Mavrommatis said. "What we propose in the paper is a way to evaluate the appropriateness and accuracy of the binning methods using the same datasets in order to set a gold standard, we have designed the reference-simulated metagenome."

Through the Nature Methods publication, Mavrommatis has invited others to contribute new methods as they arise to continue to update the server and sustain the value of the system. This is also facilitated through a server called "Fames," available at the DOE JGI (http://fames.jgi-psf.org/) where the community of researchers can check the most recent results, compare their dataset from their metagenome of interest against the simulated metagenome, and receive guidance as to which are the optimal tools for analysis.

"Having such a tool at hand for the first time now, the community can not only compare the methods, but can also ask the question, why is this method better, or why does this one fail. Over all, we hope that it will help to improve the process and lead to further development of new methods for evaluating metagenomes, particularly since this gold rush is not going away any time soon."