Biomarkerid

Biomarkerid is a proposed global identifier system intended to uniquely and persistently identify biomarkers across research studies, databases, and regulatory submissions. A biomarker can be any measurable indicator of a biological state, including genetic variants, proteins, metabolites, cellular signatures, imaging features, or composite signatures.

The primary purpose of biomarkerid is to enable unambiguous reference and seamless data integration. By decoupling from variable naming conventions and synonyms, a biomarkerid would support cross-resource linking, automated data workflows, meta-analyses, and clearer communication in publications and submissions. The system would also help track provenance, validation status, and updates as biomarker knowledge evolves.

In design terms, each biomarkerid would be issued by a central registry and expressed as a persistent identifier, potentially in a URI-like or compact alphanumeric format. Metadata accompanying the ID would typically include biomarker type, species, disease context, measurement method, units, assay platform, validation status, and representative references. The identifier would be designed to accommodate revisions, versioning, and deprecation while preserving historical references.

Interoperability with existing resources is a key goal. Biomarkerid would aim to integrate with established ontologies and registries (such as disease ontologies, MeSH, UMLS, and relevant gene, protein, or imaging vocabularies) to support semantic search and data federation. Adherence to FAIR data principles and linked-data practices would be encouraged to maximize accessibility and reuse.

Governance would require consensus among researchers, publishers, funding bodies, and regulators, along with clear rules for governance, version control, and long-term sustainability. Challenges include achieving broad adoption, aligning with diverse standards, and managing updates as biomarker science progresses. See also biodata identifiers, biomarkers, and data standards.