An introduction to MPEG-G, the new ISO standard for genomic information representation

Abstract

The MPEG-G standardization initiative is a coordinated international effort to specify a compressed data format that enables large scale genomic data to be processed, transported and shared. The standard consists of a set of specifications (i.e., a book) describing: i) a normative format syntax, and ii) a normative decoding process to retrieve the information coded in a compliant file or bitstream. Such decoding process enables the use of leading-edge compression technologies that have exhibited significant compression gains over currently used formats for storage of unaligned and aligned sequencing reads. Additionally, the standard provides a wealth of much needed functionality, such as selective access, data aggregation, application programming interfaces to the compressed data, standard interfaces to support data protection mechanisms, support for streaming and a procedure to assess the conformance of implementations. ISO/IEC is engaged in supporting the maintenance and availability of the standard specification, which guarantees the perenniality of applications using MPEG-G. Finally, the standard ensures interoperability and integration with existing genomic information processing pipelines by providing support for conversion from the FASTQ/SAM/BAM file formats.In this paper we provide an overview of the MPEG-G specification, with particular focus on the main advantages and novel functionality it offers. As the standard only specifies the decoding process, encoding performance, both in terms of speed and compression ratio, can vary depending on specific encoder implementations, and will likely improve during the lifetime of MPEG-G. Hence, the performance statistics provided here are only indicative baseline examples of the technologies included in the standard.

Towards standardization guidelines for in silico approaches in personalized medicine

“…Sometimes there are even competing standards, as for example, in the field of life science microscopy imaging with a whole range of different, mostly proprietary standards [ 21 ]. A more recent example is the development of standards for genome compression [ 22 ], [ 23 ]. In the most extreme cases, such a competition can lead to an overrun of existing and well-established standards by newly developed ones.…”

Reversible fingerprinting for genomic information

“…Another application could be to limit the temptation of separating the genomic data from associated metadata and privacy rules. In the upcoming MPEG standard for genomic data, ISO/IEC 23092, MPEG-G [20], [21], [22], it will be possible to convey such type of fields alongside the genomic information. By modifying the privacy rules, an attacker could repurpose a file without permission.…”

An Introduction to MPEG-G: The First Open ISO/IEC Standard for the Compression and Exchange of Genomic Sequencing Data

“…The preprint [7] served as a "white paper" introducing MPEG-G to the wide bioinformatics community. Hence, some details presented in this article were already discussed in it.…”