Mathematical Modelling of Spatially Coherent Transcription
Author(s)
Swingland, James Thomas
Type
Thesis
Abstract
Genetics and epigenetics are widely expected to revolutionise our understanding of health and
disease. However any attempt to extract relevant information from noisy data requires a
combination of modelling and statistical techniques. Given the number of genes and the complexity
involved in the genome, sophisticated methods will be needed to properly capture the information
that is contained.
Many mechanisms and variables can affect and control the expression of a gene. In this
thesis, it is specifically spatially coherent variations in transcription which are investigated. Several
different areas were examined, producing a broad set of results. Important findings include the
demonstration of spatial coherence as the result of epigenetic effects, the creation and validation of
a technique to detect spatial coherence, and the extension of spatial modelling to epigenetic data.
Other important results include the detection of spatial coherence variation due to confounding
variables (PMI and neuronal concentration) and the development of new spatial modelling
techniques. The results indicate that spatial modelling provides a useful approach to investigating
unusual and unknown aspects of epigenetic and transcriptional regulation.
disease. However any attempt to extract relevant information from noisy data requires a
combination of modelling and statistical techniques. Given the number of genes and the complexity
involved in the genome, sophisticated methods will be needed to properly capture the information
that is contained.
Many mechanisms and variables can affect and control the expression of a gene. In this
thesis, it is specifically spatially coherent variations in transcription which are investigated. Several
different areas were examined, producing a broad set of results. Important findings include the
demonstration of spatial coherence as the result of epigenetic effects, the creation and validation of
a technique to detect spatial coherence, and the extension of spatial modelling to epigenetic data.
Other important results include the detection of spatial coherence variation due to confounding
variables (PMI and neuronal concentration) and the development of new spatial modelling
techniques. The results indicate that spatial modelling provides a useful approach to investigating
unusual and unknown aspects of epigenetic and transcriptional regulation.
Date Issued
2012
Date Awarded
2012-07
Copyright Statement
Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND)
Advisor
Turkheimer, Federico
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (Great Britain)
Publisher Department
Medicine
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)