A comparison of machine learning and Bayesian modelling for molecular serotyping.

Journal: BMC genomics
PMID:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a human pathogen that is a major cause of infant mortality. Identifying the pneumococcal serotype is an important step in monitoring the impact of vaccines used to protect against disease. Genomic microarrays provide an effective method for molecular serotyping. Previously we developed an empirical Bayesian model for the classification of serotypes from a molecular serotyping array. With only few samples available, a model driven approach was the only option. In the meanwhile, several thousand samples have been made available to us, providing an opportunity to investigate serotype classification by machine learning methods, which could complement the Bayesian model.

Authors

  • Richard Newton
    MRC Biostatistics Unit, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, UK. richard.newton@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk.
  • Lorenz Wernisch
    MRC Biostatistics Unit, Robinson Way, Cambridge, CB2 0SR, UK.