The accreditation of gene/disease specific databases has often been raised as an area of action for the Human Variome Project. This session of the 4th Biennial Meeting of the Human Variome Project Consortium discussed the idea further and attempted to generate some consensus on the matter from amongst the meeting delegates. The discussions centred on the form such accreditation should take both in the first instance and into the future.

1. Setting normative function:
Accreditation of G/DSDBs
Mauno Vihinen (DL), Lund University, Sweden
Mireille Claustres, University Hospital of Montpellier, France
Raymond Dalgleish, University of Leicester, UK
Finlay Macrae, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
Peter Taschner, Leiden University Medical Center, Holland

2. Guidelines for LSDBs
Celli, J., Dalgleish, R., Vihinen, M., Taschner, P. E. M. and den Dunnen,
J. T. (2012) Curating gene sequence variant databases (LSDBs). Hum.
Mutat. 33, 291-297.
Vihinen, M., den Dunnen, J., Dalgleish, R., Cotton, R. G. H. (2012)
Guidelines for establishing locus specific databases. Hum. Mutat. 33,
298-305.
Human Mutation virtual issue "Recommendations and Standards for the
Reporting and Databasing of Genetic Variations"

3. Establishment of LSDBs
Vihinen, M., den Dunnen, J., Dalgleish, R., Cotton, R. G. H. (2012) Guidelines for establishing locus specific databases.
Hum. Mutat. 33, 298-305. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

4. Establishment of LSDBs
Vihinen, M., den Dunnen, J., Dalgleish, R., Cotton, R. G. H. (2012) Guidelines for establishing locus specific databases.
Hum. Mutat. 33, 298-305. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

5. Establishment of LSDBs
Vihinen, M., den Dunnen, J., Dalgleish, R., Cotton, R. G. H. (2012) Guidelines for establishing locus specific databases.
Hum. Mutat. 33, 298-305. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

6. Curation
Vihinen, M., den Dunnen, J., Dalgleish, R., Cotton, R. G. H. (2012) Guidelines for establishing locus specific databases.
Hum. Mutat. 33, 298-305. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

7. G/DSDB quality control, preliminaries
Updating Contents Curation and
Data collection - scope
curators
- literature - goals
Technical implementation
- labs
- interface
Coverage of data
Database management
Clinical data Database system
- extent quality Use of standards
- quality - ontologies
Cross referencing control Reference sequences
Linking
Data distribution Variation description
- nomenclature
Disclaimer ELSI
Pathogenicity definition
Liability - consent

8. G/DSDB quality control, practicalities
No existing quality scheme
- Quality criteria and measures
- Independent assessors
- Voluntary participation
- Self assessment, can be automated (to certain extent)
- Additional quality controls
What is quality and how to measure it?

9. G/DSDB quality control, practicalities
- Frequency
- Rating system (how detailed)
- HVP certification and electronic quality seal
list of certified dbases at HVP web site
How, when and by whom?
- Funding!?
Quality assessment of country nodes
How to proceed?