NSF Collaborative Research: A General Theory of Group Testing for Genotyping

Professor Alexander Barg (ECE/ISR) is the principal investigator for a new NSF collaborative research grant, A General Theory of Group Testing for Genotyping. The three-year, $250K grant will fund the development of a comprehensive, yet analytically or computationally tractable general theory of group testing for genotyping. Barg’s proposed theory will answer the unique challenges arising in genotyping by sequencing. In addition to genotyping applications, parts of the theory also may find independent applications in areas as diverse as constrained multiple access channel analysis, fingerprinting and identification coding, and error-control coding. Several new models will be introduced into the field of group testing, including subjects with different types and strengths, semi-quantitative testing, two-dimensional pooling, and Poisson probabilistic testing.