ABSTRACT

High-throughput molecular and cellular analytical platforms are inundating researchers with high-dimensional multi-omics data. A major challenge of modern biological research is to integrate within and across these very complex data sets to derive biological insight. Integrating across multiple data sources can improve our understanding of a complex system 1 and may lead to more reliable hypothesis generation. For example, in biology, a given molecular pathway may entail the structural and/or functional interplay between various molecules from messenger RNA transcripts to proteins and metabolites. Biological functions may be modified 597by genetic (e.g., mutations and polymorphisms), epigenetic (e.g., methylation and microRNA), and environmental regulatory factors. Simultaneous molecular profiling of tens to millions of molecules (later referred to as “variables” or “features”) from different biological compartments is necessary to capture this complexity.