title: Genetic data simulators and their applications: an overview.
abstract: Computer simulations have played an indispensable role in the development and applications of statistical models and methods for genetic studies across multiple disciplines. The need to simulate complex evolutionary scenarios and pseudo-datasets for various studies has fueled the development of dozens of computer programs with varying reliability, performance, and application areas. To help researchers compare and choose the most appropriate simulators for their studies, we have created the genetic simulation resources (GSR) website, which allows authors of simulation software to register their applications and describe them with more than 160 defined attributes. This article summarizes the properties of 93 simulators currently registered at GSR and provides an overview of the development and applications of genetic simulators. Unlike other review articles that address technical issues or compare simulators for particular application areas, we focus on software development, maintenance, and features of simulators, often from a historical perspective. Publications that cite these simulators are used to summarize both the applications of genetic simulations and the utilization of simulators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Huann-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Leah E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Mechanic
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gillanders
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Feuer
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software
keywords: genetic simulation; genetic simulation resources; software