Most High Throughput Expression Data Sets are Underpowered

Researchers handicap their high-throughput sequencing experiments when they do not perform enough biological replicates. Given that biological tissues can be highly variable, too few replicates will lead to false negatives, false positives, irreproducibility, and failure to detect real biological signatures. We propose that at least six biological replicates per condition becomes the standard for high-throughput expression datasets.