Markov blanket-embedded genetic algorithm for gene selection

Microarray technologies enable quantitative simultaneous monitoring of expression levels for thousands of genes under various experimental conditions. This new technology has provided a new way of biological classification on a genome-wide scale. However, predictive accuracy is affected by the presence of thousands of genes many of which are unnecessary from the classification point of view. So, a key issue of microarray data classification is to identify the smallest possible set of genes that can achieve good predictive accuracy. In this study, we propose a novel Markov blanket-embedded genetic algorithm (MBEGA) for gene selection problem. In particular, the embedded Markov blanket-based memetic operators add or delete features (or genes) from a genetic algorithm (GA) solution so as to quickly improve the solution and fine-tune the search. Empirical results on synthetic and microarray benchmark datasets suggest that MBEGA is effective and efficient in eliminating irrelevant and redundant features based on both Markov blanket and predictive power in classifier model. A detailed comparative study with other methods from each of filter, wrapper, and standard GA shows that MBEGA gives a best compromise among all four evaluation criteria, i.e., classification accuracy, number of selected genes, computational cost, and robustness.