"Guilt by association" is the exception rather than the rule in gene networks.

ABSTRACT: Gene networks are commonly interpreted as encoding functional information in their connections. An extensively validated principle called guilt by association states that genes which are associated or interacting are more likely to share function. Guilt by association provides the central top-down principle for analyzing gene networks in functional terms or assessing their quality in encoding functional information. In this work, we show that functional information within gene networks is typically concentrated in only a very few interactions whose properties cannot be reliably related to the rest of the network. In effect, the apparent encoding of function within networks has been largely driven by outliers whose behaviour cannot even be generalized to individual genes, let alone to the n

SUBMITTER: Gillis J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3315453 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature