Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Projects/Programs

Displaying 1 - 25 of 33

RM 8376 Microbial Pathogen DNA Standards for Detection and Identification

Ongoing
RM 8376 consists of 20 individual gDNA components from 19 bacterial strains and 1 human reference genome. Its purpose is to enable developers and regulators to evaluate the analytical performance of metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) tools. The material is certified for chromosomal copy

Biosurveillance and Pathogen Detection

Ongoing
NIST has established partnerships with other federal agencies to develop standards and measurement solutions to support biosurveillance. These efforts are supported in part through interagency agreements with partner agencies listed below to address their standards needs. PROGRAMS Standards for

Building Measurement Confidence for Cell Characterization

Ongoing
NIST collaborates with key stakeholders in industry, other government agencies, and academia to develop measurement assurance strategies and advanced measurement capabilities for cell characterization. Data and concepts developed through workshops and laboratory programs inform the development of

Cancer Biomarker Measurements and Collaborations

Ongoing
Collaborations and Cooperative Research Agreements We welcome collaborations and can help with assay validation and development of reference materials. Below are some examples of our collaborations and ways we can develop test materials. Early Detection Research Network (EDRN): Interagency agreement

Cancer Genome in a Bottle

Ongoing
Goals: This project is an extension of the Genome in a Bottle Consortium to develop the technical infrastructure (reference standards, reference methods, and reference data) to enable translation of cancer genome sequencing to clinical practice and innovations in technologies. The priority of GIAB

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line authentication

Ongoing
Intended impact To develop a PCR based multiplex assay that can be used to authenticate Chinese hamster ovary cell lines which are important in the production of biological therapeutics. Objectives Identify tetranucleotide STR markers by searching the CHO genome using BLAST Design and

Comparative Mammalian Proteome Aggregator Resource (CoMPARe) Program

Ongoing
Comparative proteomics strives to gain insight into key underlying molecular changes that result in unique phenotypes across related taxa. Proteomic analysis complements comparative genomics by providing evidence of protein abundance, orthogonal to gene copy number and amount of transcript. To

Comparative Serum Proteomics Project

Ongoing
State-of-the-art biomolecular analysis is no longer limited to model organisms and is becoming routine in non-model organisms. Major drivers of this emerging bioanalytical capacity include increasing accessibility and quality of sequenced genomes as well as high-resolution fast-duty cycle mass

DARPA Friend or Foe (FoF) -- Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)

Ongoing
Vision: Validate new measurement platforms for identifying commensal (friend) and pathogenic (foe) microorganisms Goal: Provide well-characterized, microbial community reference materials of increasing complexity Approach: Start with well-characterized pure cultures and scale up to complex consortia

External RNA Controls Consortium

Completed
While early gene expression measurements with DNA microarrays were groundbreaking in their ability to reveal biological activity, the results were irreconcilable and irreproducible. Industry leaders approached the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2003 for help with addressing

Forensic Applications of Next Generation Sequencing

Ongoing
Forensic DNA profiles have historically been generated by Capillary Electrophoresis (CE), which results in length-based designations reported as the number of repeats at STR (short tandem repeat) markers. For example, the marker D3S1358 contains repeats of the four nucleotides “TCTA” or “TCTG”. When

Genome in a Bottle

Ongoing
Consortium goals: The Genome in a Bottle Consortium is a public-private-academic consortium hosted by NIST to develop the technical infrastructure (reference standards, reference methods, and reference data) to enable translation of whole human genome sequencing to clinical practice and innovations

Genome in a Bottle Workshops

Ongoing
GIAB has held 1-2 workshops each year since being formed in 2012. These workshops include progress updates, presentations about related work, and planning for new samples and analyses. Following are links to agendas, reports, and presentations from past workshops. Workshop Reports APRIL 2020

Human Gut Microbiome Reference Material

Ongoing
The most common measurements currently being used to describe these complex microbial communities are: NGS-based metagenomics Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics In either case, no fit-for-purpose standards exist that enable researchers to compare results generated across different laboratories and

Living Yeast Cell Reference Material (RM 8230)

Ongoing
Quantification of total and viable microbial cells is critical for applications ranging from assessment of DNA extraction efficiency in support of microbial metagenomics to characterization of antimicrobial efficacy. In addition, safe biological materials are needed to substitute for true biothreat

Mouse Allelic Ladder

Ongoing
What is an allelic ladder? An allelic ladder is a mixture of highly characterized alleles (known size and sequence) that are generated using the same primers as the test samples and are used during capillary electrophoresis for accurate allele call determination. Why is an allelic ladder important

NIST/EDRN Cancer Biomarker Collaboration

Ongoing
Our lab is one of the EDRN Biomarker Reference Laboratories working with the EDRN discovery labs to improve the quality of the measurements done on new cancer biomarkers for early detection of cancer and for cancer risk. TECHNICAL APPROACH Evaluate current assays used for detection of cancer

NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium 

Ongoing
Advances in cell and gene-based therapeutics as well as other regenerative medicine products have increased the need for high quality, robust, and validated measurements for cell characterization. Flow cytometry, including imaging cytometry, has emerged as an important platform due to its ability to

NIST Genome Editing Consortium

Ongoing
Targeted genome editing, a method used to alter the DNA of living cells at desired locations, is poised to revolutionize science and medicine. To fight diseases, novel genome edited therapeutics, including those for use in regenerative medicine and infectious diseases, are being developed. Many

NIST Genome Editing Program

Ongoing
For genome editing systems to reach their full potential in research and commercial products, new measurement tools, capabilities, and standards must be developed to efficiently implement and assess the performance of these editing technologies, as well as to evaluate the utility of resulting

NIST HER2 Genomic DNA Standard Reference Material, SRM® 2373

Ongoing
The amplification of the gene for HER2 occurs in approximately 20 to 25% of breast cancers. The accurate measurement of this biomarker is important for the proper treatment with anti-HER2 therapeutics. Clinical laboratories are beginning to utilize accurate and sensitive diagnostic tests based on

Pathogen Detection and Identification: The Next Generation of Analyses

Ongoing
Human disease resulting from pathogens represents a tremendous burden on the health care system. Many hospitals have adopted new, rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection systems because the time to diagnose and begin effective treatment has a direct impact on patient survival and