Application of Dempster-Schafer method in family-based association studies

IEEE/ACM Trans Comput Biol Bioinform. 2013 Jul-Aug;10(4):1071-5. doi: 10.1109/TCBB.2013.85.

Abstract

In experiments designed for family-based association studies, methods such as transmission disequilibrium test require large number of trios to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the disease. However, unavailability of a large number of trios is the Achilles' heel of many complex diseases, especially for late-onset diseases. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to this problem by means of the Dempster-Shafer method. The simulation studies show that the Dempster-Shafer method has a promising overall performance, in identifying single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the correct association class, as it has 90 percent accuracy even with 60 trios.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Computational Biology / methods*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Genome-Wide Association Study / methods*
  • Humans
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide