BCO App: tools for generating BioCompute Objects from next-generation sequencing workflows and computations.

Area of Science:

• Genomics and Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology
• Data Standards

Background:

• The BioCompute Object (BCO) standard (IEEE 2791-2020) facilitates communication of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) supports BCOs for regulatory submissions, including High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) data.
• Standardization is crucial for reproducibility and interoperability in complex biological data analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present the BCO App, a tool designed to simplify the generation of BioCompute Objects.
• To enable BCO creation from diverse computational workflows and data sources.
• To enhance participation in precisionFDA initiatives and streamline regulatory data submission.

Main Methods:

• The BCO App was created to generate BCOs from plaintext workflow metadata and Common Workflow Language (CWL) definitions.
• The application integrates with the Cancer Genomics Cloud (CGC) to ingest task execution results.
• BCOs can be exported as JSON or PDF and published to platforms like CGC and GitHub.

Main Results:

• The BCO App successfully facilitates BCO generation across different computational environments.
• Integration with the CGC significantly reduces the time needed for BCO creation by auto-populating fields.
• The app supports flexible export and publishing options, enhancing data accessibility and sharing.

Conclusions:

• The BCO App is an effective tool for generating standardized BioCompute Objects, improving data analysis communication.
• Automated data ingestion from platforms like CGC enhances efficiency and reduces manual effort in BCO creation.
• The BCO App supports the broader adoption of the IEEE 2791-2020 standard in research and regulatory settings.