Statistical advances in functional genomics

Abstract

Statistics, agriculture, and genetics share a long successful pre-genomic history that is based on solid principles of experimental design and analysis of variation. In the era of 'omics it is essential that statistical and mathematical standards, as well as guidelines for the experimental design and analysis of biological studies are upheld. The main message of this chapter recalls past statistical issues, discusses current statistical advances that pertain to understanding complex traits, and promotes ideas about both the data and statistical genomic models of the future.