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On the design and analysis of gene expression studies in human populations

Nature Genetics volume 39, pages 807–808 (2007)Cite this article

To the Editor:

In a recent Nature Genetics Letter entitled “Common genetic variants account for differences in gene expression among ethnic groups,” Spielman et al.1 estimate the number of genes differentially expressed between individuals of European (CEU) and Asian (ASN) ancestry and suggest that these differences can be accounted for by measured genetic variants. We recently performed a similar study comparing differences in gene expression among individuals of European and Yoruban ancestry2. Given the scientific, medical and societal implications of this research area, it is important for the scientific community to carefully revisit and critically evaluate the conclusions of such studies. To this end, we have reanalyzed the data in Spielman et al.1 to provide a common basis for comparison with our study. In doing so, we found that important issues arise about the accuracy of their results.

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Figure 1: Distribution of P values for tests of differential expression.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, 1705 NE Pacific St., Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Joshua M Akey, Shameek Biswas & John D Storey

  2. Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, 1705 NE Pacific St., Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Jeffrey T Leek & John D Storey

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  1. Joshua M Akey
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  2. Shameek Biswas
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  3. Jeffrey T Leek
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  4. John D Storey
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Akey, J., Biswas, S., Leek, J. et al. On the design and analysis of gene expression studies in human populations. Nat Genet 39, 807–808 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0707-807

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