Standards for systems biology

Several standards are contributing to advancement of knowledge in biology, however most standardization initiatives are still in the investment stage for biologists.Developing a complete and self-contained standard in biology involves four steps: conceptual model design, model formalization, development of a data exchange format and implementation of the supporting tools.In life sciences, standards development typically is done by grass roots movements, and it is difficult to persuade funding agencies to fund such activities.Although it might be faster for a single organization to develop its own standards, a bottom-up community consensus approach is key to the long-term acceptance and usefulness of standards.Developing and deploying a standard creates an overhead, which can be expensive. Standards related to a particular technology have a life span that is no longer than the technology itself and there is only a limited period of time in which the overheads can be paid off.The body of biological knowledge is incomplete and expanding rapidly; therefore, standards that describe biological knowledge have to be flexible, and a mechanism of change must be a part of the standard.To avoid proliferation of standards, common features of existing standards should be re-used wherever possible. Simplicity, but not oversimplification, is the key to success.