Parallel multiplicity and error discovery rate (EDR) in microarray experiments

Background: In microarray gene expression profiling experiments, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are detected from among tens of thousands of genes on an array using statistical tests. It is important to control the number of false positives or errors that are present in the resultant DEG list. To date, more than 20 different multiple test methods have been reported that compute overall Type I error rates in microarray experiments. However, these methods share the following dilemma: they have low power in cases where only a small number of DEGs exist among a large number of total genes on the array. Results: This study contrasts parallel multiplicity of objectively related tests against the traditional simultaneousness of subjectively related tests and proposes a new assessment called the Error Discovery Rate (EDR) for evaluating multiple test comparisons in microarray experiments. Parallel multiple tests use only the negative genes that parallel the positive genes to control th...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Wayne Wenzhong Xu, Clay J. Carter
• Keywords: BMCBI 2010, Multiple Test, Multiple Test Comparisons, Multiple Test Method