Statistical models for genetics data are often surprisingly challenging, and often require advanced and new statistical methods. This project continues to investigate a number of such areas, including, for example, a global analysis of X-chromosome dosage compensation. We begin by noting that Drosophila has a special dosage compensation complex, which upregulates the male X chromosome about two-fold relative to the autosomes, thus maintaining X-versus-autosomal genic balance. However, this complex is only present in the soma, not in the germline. Nevertheless, germline tissues also display striking two-fold upregulation of genes on the male X-chromosome, as revealed by careful measurements of gene expression using microarrays (Gupta, Malley, Oliver, et al., 2006). Analysis of published data from mouse and worm expression arrays reveals a similar balance between X and autosomal genes. Taken together, these results (with indicate that multiple means have evolved to achieve the same end, emphasizing our fundamental ignorance of the underlying transcription-linked process that is being regulated. We note that this paper by Gupta, Malley, Oliver, et al. (J. Biology) has been accessed more than 7,400 times since its appearance in Feburary 2006, and is the third most accessed paper in this journal over the entire year.
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