Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33941078›Full record

ArticleBMC bioinformatics2021

Modern simulation utilities for genetic analysis.

Sarah S Ji, Christopher A German, Kenneth Lange, Janet S Sinsheimer, Hua Zhou, Jin Zhou, Eric M Sobel

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC bioinformatics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sarah S JiDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Christopher A GermanDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Kenneth LangeDepartment of Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Janet S SinsheimerDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Hua ZhouDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA.
Jin ZhouDepartments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721, USA.
Eric M SobelDepartment of Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA. esobel@ucla.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1718-0031

Funding

SOUTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES CENTERP30ES006694 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · PI Nathan J Cherrington · 1994 to 2026
$36.7M
STATISTICAL METHODS FOR GENE MAPPINGR01GM053275 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI LANGE, KENNETH L · 1995 to 2019
$9.3M
Training Grant in Genomic Analysis and InterpretationT32HG002536 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Valerie A Arboleda, Harold Pimentel · 2002 to 2026
$8.6M
Genomics, GPUs, and Next Generation Computational StatisticsR01HG006139 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI SOBEL, ERIC · 2011 to 2023
$5.1M
Modeling, Inference, and Optimization for Genomic and Biomedical Big DataR35GM141798 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI LANGE, KENNETH L · 2021 to 2025
$2.7M
Integrative approaches for mapping the genetic risk of complex traitsR01HG009120 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI PASANIUC, BOGDAN · 2017 to 2021
$2.3M
Develop T2D Patient-Centered Treatment Suggestion Rule using EMR dataK01DK106116 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA · PI ZHOU, JIN · 2016 to 2019
$524k
NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG006139NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG009120NHGRI NIH HHS T32 HG002536NIDDK NIH HHS K01 DK106116NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES006694NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM053275NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM141798NIH HHS K01 DK106116NIH HHS R01 GM053275NIH HHS R01 HG006139NIH HHS R01 HG009120NIH HHS T32 HG002536
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStatistical geneticists employ simulation to estimate the power of proposed studies, test new analysis tools, and evaluate properties of causal models. Although there are existing trait simulators, there is ample room for modernization. For example, most phenotype simulators are limited to Gaussian traits or traits transformable to normality, while ignoring qualitative traits and realistic, non-normal trait distributions. Also, modern computer languages, such as Julia, that accommodate parallelization and cloud-based computing are now mainstream but rarely used in older applications. To meet the challenges of contemporary big studies, it is important for geneticists to adopt new computational tools.

resultsWe present TraitSimulation, an open-source Julia package that makes it trivial to quickly simulate phenotypes under a variety of genetic architectures. This package is integrated into our OpenMendel suite for easy downstream analyses. Julia was purpose-built for scientific programming and provides tremendous speed and memory efficiency, easy access to multi-CPU and GPU hardware, and to distributed and cloud-based parallelization. TraitSimulation is designed to encourage flexible trait simulation, including via the standard devices of applied statistics, generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). TraitSimulation also accommodates many study designs: unrelateds, sibships, pedigrees, or a mixture of all three. (Of course, for data with pedigrees or cryptic relationships, the simulation process must include the genetic dependencies among the individuals.) We consider an assortment of trait models and study designs to illustrate integrated simulation and analysis pipelines. Step-by-step instructions for these analyses are available in our electronic Jupyter notebooks on Github. These interactive notebooks are ideal for reproducible research.

conclusionThe TraitSimulation package has three main advantages. (1) It leverages the computational efficiency and ease of use of Julia to provide extremely fast, straightforward simulation of even the most complex genetic models, including GLMs and GLMMs. (2) It can be operated entirely within, but is not limited to, the integrated analysis pipeline of OpenMendel. And finally (3), by allowing a wider range of more realistic phenotype models, TraitSimulation brings power calculations and diagnostic tools closer to what investigators might see in real-world analyses.

Indexed as

Cloud ComputingGenetic TestingAgedComputer SimulationHumansPedigreePhenotypePowerRealistic genetic modelsStatistical geneticsTrait simulation

Identifiers

PMID33941078
PMCPMC8091532

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.