Bayesian Analysis of Variance for Microarrays

What is BAM?

BAM is a new statistical technique for detecting differentially expressing genes from microarray data. At the heart of the method is a special type of signal detection technique that squashes down false signal while leaving real signal alone. Standard methods look for genes by relying on elementary test statistics using data from one gene at a time (such as t-tests, or contrasts from ANOVA models). Gene lists are obtained by filtering statistics by attempting to control overall type-I error, or false discovery rate, or by filtering using a user specified cutoff level.

Patterns of Interest

BAM takes a fundamentally different approach and focuses instead on estimating the differential effect of a gene by synthesizing information across all genes simultaneously. Rather than filtering genes, estimated effects are mapped into pattern types. BAM's special signal detection mechanism shrinks to zero estimated effects for genes unlikely to be differentially expressing, and consequently patterns of interest become highly interpretable using graphical visualization tools.

Patterns of interest might be "hit-and-run" genes which affect a biologic system for only a certain amount of time, or genes involved throughout the process. See Colon Cancer Illustration.

What types of problems can BAM be used for?

BAM applies to multigroup experimental designs, such as data collected over different stages of a disease. Other applications include gene expression time profiling for time-course data, outlier detection, invariant set normalization, gene atlas transcriptome mappings, as well an many other problems.

free software

BAMarray 3.0

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User Testimonial

"BAM technology allows us to find genes with important expression changes in colon cancer that we could not have found using other approaches."

Sanford Markowitz, M.D., Ingall Professor of Cancer Genetics at Case University School of Medicine, and Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr Markowitz searches for the genes involved in the development of colon cancer and has incorporated BAMarray™ into his research.

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