hi Marie,

Yes, you can use quantitative / continuous valued variables in the design
formula just as you would use a factor variable.

The statistical test is the equivalently of the null hypothesis that the
coefficient (log2 fold change) associated with the variable is equal to 0.

Mike


On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 11:45 AM, Marie Sémon <marie.semon@ens-lyon.fr>wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I wish to find genes whose expression profile correlates with a variable
> of interest, which is quantitative (say, the weight of the individuals). Is
> it possible/a good practice to use DESeq2 for this?
>
> One one hand the vignette clearly describes factors (qualitative)
> variables, but, on the other hand there is this sentence, p8:
> "If the variable of interest is not a factor, the log2 fold change can be
> interpreted as the amount of doubling observed on average for every unit of
> change."
>
> Many thanks for you help
>
> With kind regards,
>
> Marie
>
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