BST 290: David Rocke

Biostatistics Seminar: David Rocke, Public Health Sciences, UC Davis

DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 2014
TIME: 4:10pm
LOCATION: 1147 Math Sciences Building

Refreshments: 3:30pm, MSB 1147

SPEAKER: David Rocke, Distinguished Professor, Dept of Public Health Sciences, UC Davis

Title:                “Statistical Issues in the Analysis of Data from RNA-Seq Experiments”

Abstract:          RNA-Seq data are increasingly used for whole-genome differential mRNA expression analysis in lieu of gene expression arrays such as those from Affymetrix and Illumina. We review commonly used methods for this type of analysis, including DESeq, edgeR, and Cuffdiff2, by placing them within a common framework that allows comparisons of components of the methods as well as of the overall results. We also review a number of recent studies comparing these methods in terms of false positives and sensitivity, and add additional results of our own. We show that none of the existing methods is fully satisfactory, with most identifying large numbers of genes as differentially expressed even when there are none, but some will lead to better, more reliable results than others. This area is still early in its intellectual development and is changing rapidly, so there are substantial contributions that can be made. 


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