Mission

A detailed understanding of human-microbe symbiosis requires a precise characterization of human-associated microorganisms, the human microbiome. To progress toward this ambitious goal it is of utmost importance that the data generated in each of many large projects involved in human metagenome research be optimally comparable. The International Human Microbiome Standards (IHMS) project coordinated the development of standard operating procedures designed to optimize data quality and comparability in the human microbiome field.

Overall, IHMS focused on all key aspects of human sample identification, collection, and processing to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence generation and analysis.

Structure & Governance

IHMS consisted of different work packages:

Financing

IHMS was supported by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme.

Data Sharing

IHMS organized public access to downloadable standard operating procedures and enabled exchanges between users and providers of the standards.

Sponsors & Partners