Simulation of microarray data with realistic characteristics

Background: Microarray technologies have become common tools in biological research. As a result, a need for effective computational methods for data analysis has emerged. Numerous different algorithms have been proposed for analyzing the data. However, an objective evaluation of the proposed algorithms is not possible due to the lack of biological ground truth information. To overcome this fundamental problem, the use of simulated microarray data for algorithm validation has been proposed. Results: We present a microarray simulation model which can be used to validate different kinds of data analysis algorithms. The proposed model is unique in the sense that it includes all the steps that affect the quality of real microarray data. These steps include the simulation of biological ground truth data, applying biological and measurement technology specific error models, and finally simulating the microarray slide manufacturing and hybridization. After all these steps are taken into acco...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Matti Nykter, Tommi Aho, Miika Ahdesmäki, Pekka Ruusuvuori, Antti Lehmussola, Olli Yli-Harja
• Keywords: Biological Ground Truth, BMCBI 2006, Microarray Data, Microarray Simulation Model