Till Thursday, we hear:
Interpreting gene or protein interaction networks is an invaluable skill in biomedical research. Effective interpretation of networks results in the discovery of biological mechanisms that describe the behavior of a research model (cell line, genetically modified organism, tumor, etc.) and guides future experiments. This book offers 18 tips that will help the novice and the veteran researcher interpret high-throughput omics data.
Excerpt:
Tip #1. Things may not be what they seem.
The most important piece of advice that I can give about interpreting gene networks is that things may not be what they seem; meaning the biological processes that are enriched in your gene list of interest may not be what is actually happening in your research model. If you are studying gene expression of a tissue that does not have skeletal muscle, but receive “muscle development” as an enriched category, it wasn’t a mistake. Epithelial cells can undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during which they up-regulate genes such as smooth muscle actin. Thus, muscle development may actually be EMT.
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