Beyond conventional statistics: Genomic Informational Field Theory (GIFT) identifies sex-specific herpes virus associations in multiple sclerosis

The study compared a novel data analysis method called Genomic Informational Field Theory (GIFT) with conventional statistical approaches when examining the relationship between antibodies against herpesviruses and multiple sclerosis (MS). The research included 200 MS patients and 137 healthy controls. GIFT confirmed the known association between Epstein-Barr virus protein EBNA1 and MS susceptibility in both sexes. In contrast to conventional statistics, GIFT identified new associations between herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and EBV VCA protein with female MS susceptibility, while in males MS susceptibility was associated only with CMV immunoglobulin levels. These novel associations were not detected using conventional statistical tools. The results demonstrate GIFT's ability to reveal complex relationships between traits and phenotypes that remain hidden to traditional analysis methods.