Mandhri Abeysooriya

Abstract Infinium Methylation BeadChip arrays remain one of the most popular platforms for epigenome-wide association studies, but tools for downstream pathway analysis have their limitations.

Surveys show spreadsheets are the most widely used analytical tool in academic research. But they are prone to errors. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Health England lost 16,000 test results after using an old Excel file format to handle data. Whether this mix-up hampered local infection control is anybody’s guess, but it certainly could have.

Credit: Shutterstock Autocorrection, or predictive text, is a common feature of many modern tech tools, from internet searches to messaging apps and word processors. Autocorrection can be a blessing, but when the algorithm makes mistakes it can change the message in dramatic and sometimes hilarious ways. Our research shows autocorrect errors, particularly in Excel spreadsheets, can also make a mess of gene names in genetic research.