April 2025 Trophoblast Research. We’re excited to share a new review article by Amy, Hannah, and Wendy that tackles important issues in study design and analysis of large placental datasets. See full review here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2025.04.014
Key highlights:
- Good research questions yield interesting results – whether positive (p < 0.05) or negative. With a solid research method, negative results add great value to the field.
- With great power comes great responsibility. During study design and analysis, take care to identify and address sources of bias that can lead to false positives. And – because it’s impossible to avoid bias, replicate findings in independent data.
- An inconvenient truth of working with human tissues is that sampling variation can influence your study. We demonstrate this by identifying how the cell composition of samples varies across several public placental datasets. Something to consider when comparing studies!
- Finally, be realistic about what questions your data can/can’t answer, and what your own biases are. Let the data speak for itself, after setting it up for success with a strong study design and robust analyses.
