Linear independence of pairwise comparisons of DNA microarray data.
BACKGROUND
For DNA microarrays, the gain in certainty by performing multiple experimental repeats is offset by the high cost of each experiment. In a typical experiment, two independent measurements (that is, data from two separate arrays) are combined to yield a single comparative index per gene. Thus, although one uses 2n arrays and performs 2n independent measurements, one obtains only n comparative measurements. We addressed the question: how many of the potential n2 comparisons derivable from such data are actually independent, and what effect do these additional comparisons have on the false positive rate.


RESULTS
We show there are precisely 2n - 1 independent comparisons available from among the n2 possibilities. Applying these additional n - 1 independent comparisons to experimental and simulated data reduced the false positive rate by as much as 10-fold, with excellent agreement between experimental and theoretical false positive rates.
Longacre
Angelika
A
Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Scott
L Ridgway
LR
Levine
Jerrold S
JS
D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D016014:Linear Models; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018401:Sample Size; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic