Bioinformatics talks

Victor Panaretos. Second-Order Functional Comparison of DNA Minicircles
15.00-16.00, 15-06-2009, Biostatistical Department
Given two samples of continuous random curves, we consider the problem of comparing their covariance structure. Our study is motivated by the problem of determining whether the mechanical properties of short strands of DNA are significantly affected by their base-pair sequence; while this is believed to be true, it has not been confirmed by 3D data. The testing problem is seen to involve aspects of ill-posed inverse problems and a test based on spectral truncation is proposed and investigated for the Gaussian case. When applied to a dataset of DNA minicircles obtained through the electron microscope, our test seems to confirm the existence of a sequence effect on DNA shape.
Bjarke Feenstra. Genome-wide association mapping at Statens Serum Institut
11.30, 27-11-2008, A104, HCØ
Recent advances in microarray technology now allow researchers to genotype up to 1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) per individual. Such data is used in genome-wide association (GWA) studies which seek to detect genetic variants involved in common complex diseases. At Statens Serum Institut, we are striving to strengthen our research efforts in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology, and we are currently involved in several GWA studies. In the seminar, I will use our GWA study of preterm delivery as a starting point for discussing statistically interesting aspects of GWA data with an eye to exploring common research interests and possibilities for collaboration. One obvious example concerns the issue of multiple testing; other examples are imputation of untyped genetic markers, analysis of data from mother-child pairs, analysis of copy-number variants, translation of raw image-files to genotype calls, and meta-analysis of data from multiple GWA studies.

Last modified: Wed Nov 19 12:34:07 2008