Tools produce different answers in microRNA profiles
When researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) sought to mine The Cancer Genome Atlas for information on the effects of small bits of genetic material called microRNAs on survival for patients with ovarian cancer, they made a startling discovery.
Using a technique called microarray or gene chips, they identified 61 microRNAs associated with survival in 469 ovarian cancers. However, when they used next generation sequencing to ask the same question, they found 12 in the same specimens. Only one microRNA was associated with survival in both data sets. A report on their work appears in the open access journal PLOS One.