Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
comet, gamma distribution, cancer research, single cell gel electrophoresis
College
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Department
Statistics
Abstract
The comet (single cell gel electrophoresis) assay is a highly sensitive method of detecting cellular DNA damage that is often used in cancer research. The “tail moment” is the most widely used measurement of DNA damage in the comet assay. A higher tail moment indicates more DNA damage. In almost all cases the tail moments of a sample of cells do not follow the normal distribution, and often the variation of tail moments between samples of cells exposed to different treatments is unequal. This causes difficulty when performing statistical analyses because these assumptions are necessary in order for t-tests or analyses of variance (ANOVA) to be valid.
Recommended Citation
Shepherd, Bryan E. and Schaalje, Dr. G. Bruce
(2014)
"Statistical Analysis Of The Comet Assay Using A Mixture Of Gamma Distributions,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014:
Iss.
1, Article 1287.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/1287