Standardizing Dual-Reporter Gene Expression: The MINDR Guidelines for Reliable Data Interpretation

Dual gene expression reporter systems are widely used molecular biology tools that encode two different proteins within a synthetic mRNA sequence. Such systems play a crucial role in studying diseases, drug therapies, and cellular mechanisms.

In a significant advancement, leading researchers in the field have published “Guidelines for minimal reporting requirements, design and interpretation of experiments involving the use of eukaryotic dual gene expression reporters (MINDR)” in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. These newly introduced MINDR guidelines aim to standardize the design, interpretation, and reporting of experiments involving dual gene reporter systems. This initiative is part of a broader effort aimed at improving the rigor and standardization of biomeasurements, a key focus of the partnership between the University of Maryland and NIST at IBBR.

Dual gene expression reporter systems function by encoding two distinguishable reporter genes—each producing an easily detectable protein—within the same sequence.  One reporter reflects the translation mechanism under study, while the other serves as an internal control. Despite their advantages, these systems can introduce unintended effects that may lead to data misinterpretation. Such challenges include unintended promoters or splice sites, antisense transcription, and altered protein stability. These issues highlight the need for rigorous, standardized experimental design and interpretation to prevent erroneous conclusions.

To address these concerns, the MINDR guidelines outline best-practices in experimental design, proper data interpretation, and reporting. The 39 authors of the paper—including Dr. Jonathan Dinman, Director of the IBBR and Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland, College Park—emphasizes the importance of incorporating appropriate positive and negative controls, as well as internal reference reporters. They also provide criteria for data interpretation and specify which data should be included in publications to promote rigorous and reproducible research.