M i is either zero (if the enzymatically active metabolic replicator set within the metabolic neighbourhood of site i is incomplete), or it is greater than or equal to 1. Obviously, M i = 0 implies C i = 0 (Eq. 3) and, consequently, no chance of replication for the replicator at site i.
We sought to determine if characteristics of the genomic loci associated with a trait could be used to identify initial associations with a higher chance of replication in a second cohort.
In this case, M has a greater chance of replication.
This in turn implies no local monomer production and therefore no chance of replication for the focal molecule f.
Interestingly, high numbers of repeated units increase local sequence homology and thereby the chance of replication slippage and unequal crossover (Ellegren 2004).
Therefore, the chance of replication is almost equal between P and M. Secondly, let us suppose that the time scale of diffusion (τΔ = Δ-1) is much longer than that of replication (τ a = a-1); i.e. Δ ≪ a.
Levinson and Gutman [ 62] have proposed that if replication slippage is an important mechanism, a longer repeat would tend to show more variation, since the chance of replication errors is higher for a longer stretch of repeated sequence.
Similar conclusions were drawn by Gorroochurn et al. (2007), who showed that for commonly observed P-value thresholds (P = 0.02 0.01, when α = 0.05), replication probabilities are surprisingly low (around 60 70% chance of replication).
In addition, confounding factors, such as population stratification, genetic heterogeneity, environmental factors, and interactions between genetic and environmental factors (which may vary with different populations and environments), may reduce the chance of GWA replication.
