Study Design for Sequencing Studies

Abstract

Once a biochemical method has been devised to sample RNA or DNA of interest, sequencing can be used to identify the sampled molecules with high fidelity and low bias. High-throughput sequencing has therefore become the primary data acquisition method for many genomics studies and is being used more and more to address molecular biology questions. By applying principles of statistical experimental design, sequencing experiments can be made more sensitive to the effects under study as well as more biologically sound, hence more replicable.

Keywords: Block design; Multiplexing; Pilot study; Pooling; Precision; Randomization; Replication; Reproducible research; Sample size; Sequencing depth.