Liver cancerLiver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to the liver, known as liver metastasis). Liver metastasis is more common than that which starts in the liver. Liver cancer is increasing globally. Primary liver cancer is globally the sixth-most frequent cancer and the fourth-leading cause of death from cancer.
Computational sociologyComputational sociology is a branch of sociology that uses computationally intensive methods to analyze and model social phenomena. Using computer simulations, artificial intelligence, complex statistical methods, and analytic approaches like social network analysis, computational sociology develops and tests theories of complex social processes through bottom-up modeling of social interactions. It involves the understanding of social agents, the interaction among these agents, and the effect of these interactions on the social aggregate.
Genotype-first approachThe genotype-first approach is a type of strategy used in genetic epidemiological studies to associate specific genotypes to apparent clinical phenotypes of a complex disease or trait. As opposed to “phenotype-first”, the traditional strategy that has been guiding genome-wide association studies (GWAS) so far, this approach characterizes individuals first by a statistically common genotype based on molecular tests prior to clinical phenotypic classification.
Classical geneticsClassical genetics is the branch of genetics based solely on visible results of reproductive acts. It is the oldest discipline in the field of genetics, going back to the experiments on Mendelian inheritance by Gregor Mendel who made it possible to identify the basic mechanisms of heredity. Subsequently, these mechanisms have been studied and explained at the molecular level. Classical genetics consists of the techniques and methodologies of genetics that were in use before the advent of molecular biology.
Permutation testA permutation test (also called re-randomization test) is an exact statistical hypothesis test making use of the proof by contradiction. A permutation test involves two or more samples. The null hypothesis is that all samples come from the same distribution . Under the null hypothesis, the distribution of the test statistic is obtained by calculating all possible values of the test statistic under possible rearrangements of the observed data. Permutation tests are, therefore, a form of resampling.
Chromosome 3Chromosome 3 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 3 spans 201 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents about 6.5 percent of the total DNA in cells. The following are some of the gene count estimates of human chromosome 3. Because researchers use different approaches to genome annotation their predictions of the number of genes on each chromosome varies (for technical details, see gene prediction).
TestabilityTestability is a primary aspect of Science and the Scientific Method and is a property applying to an empirical hypothesis, involves two components: Falsifiability or defeasibility, which means that counterexamples to the hypothesis are logically possible. The practical feasibility of observing a reproducible series of such counterexamples if they do exist. In short, a hypothesis is testable if there is a possibility of deciding whether it is true or false based on experimentation by anyone.
Mycoplasma laboratoriumMycoplasma laboratorium or Synthia refers to a synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain life from the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium, and rebuild these genes synthetically to create a "new" organism. Mycoplasma genitalium was originally chosen as the basis for this project because at the time it had the smallest number of genes of all organisms analyzed.
Red Queen hypothesisThe Red Queen hypothesis is a hypothesis in evolutionary biology proposed in 1973, that species must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate in order to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing species. The hypothesis was intended to explain the constant (age-independent) extinction probability as observed in the paleontological record caused by co-evolution between competing species; however, it has also been suggested that the Red Queen hypothesis explains the advantage of sexual reproduction (as opposed to asexual reproduction) at the level of individuals, and the positive correlation between speciation and extinction rates in most higher taxa.
