GBAT

GBAT detects high-confidence trans-eQTLs to identify distal genetic regulation of mRNA expression and study transcriptional regulatory influences of distal variants.

Key Features:

• Focus on trans-gene regulation: Targets trans-eQTLs (distal SNP–mRNA associations) as opposed to cis-eQTLs to detect distal regulatory effects.
• Gene-based association approach: Uses a gene-based association testing strategy with statistical rigor to mitigate false positives in high-dimensional genomic data.
• High-quality signal identification: Applies filtering and statistical controls to address the multiple testing burden and produce high-confidence trans-eQTLs.

Scientific Applications:

• Genetic research: Identifies trans-eQTLs to elucidate how distal and non-coding variants influence mRNA abundance and transcriptional regulation.
• Complex trait analysis: Enables investigation of how distant regulatory elements affect gene function and contribute to trait heritability and variation.
• Disease association studies: Facilitates discovery of regulatory variants outside of exons that may contribute to disease susceptibility or progression.

Methodology:

Performs gene-based association testing and implements statistical procedures and filtering to mitigate false positives and the multiple testing burden in high-dimensional genomic data.