Needs Assessment for Scientific Visualization of Multivariate, High-Dimensional Microarray Data

The availability of genomic data is increasing exponentially. This is magnified by the proliferation of data at all “omic” hierarchy levels. This explosive growth in biological data (currently GenBank contains over 44 billion base pairs and over 40 million sequences) mandates an increasing need for sophisticated mathematical and computational methods and software environments capable of handling the complexities and sizes of these various “omic” datasets. In particular, this is also true for microarray data. Microarray technology allows for the simultaneous genomic analysis of entire organismal genomes. The resulting datasets are high-dimensional, complex and frequently difficult to interpret. In order to address these microarray dataset and software needs, we have first decided to examine the need for and the subsequent design of advanced microarray data analysis software tools that will allow researchers to use new means and methods of visualizing and analyzing their microarray data. Towards this goal, a survey research instrument entitled “Needs Assessment for Scientific Visualization of Microarray Data” was created and distributed (n = 500). The survey was submitted to and approved by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institutional Review Board (VCU IRB#5065). The survey research instrument was distributed to a non-random sample set of researchers and biomedical life scientists currently using microarray methods in their day-to-day research. The results of the survey will be statistically analyzed and are anticipated to be instrumental in identifying a set of algorithmic/software needs to be added to the currently available microarray software analysis toolsets.