bioRxivJClub
LOESS and DE-SWAN can induce artifactual "waves" of molecular aging
bioRxiv · · Preprint · Open access
Carbonneau, Shutta + 4 more
Abstract ↗AI summary
The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
LOESS and DE-SWAN can produce artifactual “waves” of molecular aging in simulated data, even when no discrete aging patterns exist, undermining wave-like claims.
- Why it matters: Reported discrete “aging crests” rely on common summary tools, but their statistical validity is unclear and may reflect analysis artifacts rather than true biology.
- What they did: Through simple simulations, the study shows LOESS-based clustering can create false aging trajectories, LOESS+DE-SWAN wave findings are not robust to age-distribution changes and fail valid permutation testing, and DE-SWAN alone can generate waves in linear data.
- The result: These findings challenge statistical support for discrete molecular aging waves inferred in prior literature, while leaving open the possibility of genuine nonlinear aging or transitions detectable with other cohorts and models.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
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