Sequencing technology does not eliminate biological variability.

Abstract

RNA sequencing has generated much excitement for the advantages offered over microarrays. This excitement has led to a barrage of publications discounting the importance of biological variability; as microarray publications did in the 1990s. By comparing microarray and sequencing data, we demonstrate that expression measurements exhibit biological variability across individuals irrespective of measurement technology. Our analysis suggests RNA-sequencing experiments designed to estimate biological variability are more likely to produce reproducible results.