Detecting and removing multiplicative spatial bias in high-throughput screening technologies

摘要

Motivation: Considerable attention has been paid recently to improve data quality in high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS) technologies widely used in drug development and chemical toxicity research. However, several environmentally-and procedurally-induced spatial biases in experimental HTS and HCS screens decrease measurement accuracy, leading to increased numbers of false positives and false negatives in hit selection. Although effective bias correction methods and software have been developed over the past decades, almost all of these tools have been designed to reduce the effect of additive bias only. Here, we address the case of multiplicative spatial bias.