Reference-independent conversion between metagenomic relative abundance (RA) to absolute abundance (AA) with the RA2AA tool

In this study, I relate metagenomic relative abundance to absolute abundance via genome size and quantity of nucleic acid without requiring a spike-in standard. In this method, the relative abundance of a target is related to the absolute abundance of nucleic acids from the sample to estimate absolute abundance. This method would have multiple advantages to spike-in based methods, primarily removing the need for additional handling that may introduce bias and removing concerns about target similarity of the spike-in. In addition, this method is compatible with spike-in based methodologies.