Replikate

Replikate is the plural form of Replikat and, in scientific contexts, refers to independent repetitions of measurements or experimental units intended to estimate precision and variability. The concept is central to experimental design and data analysis, where replication helps quantify error and distinguish true effects from random noise.

There are different types of replicates. Technical replicates involve repeating the measurement of the same sample with the same instrument to assess technical precision. Biological replicates use independent biological units, such as different individuals, cultures, or tissue samples, to capture natural biological variation. Pseudo-replication occurs when non-independent measurements are treated as independent replicates, which can lead to overstated statistical significance.

In practice, replicates are used to estimate variance components, improve precision, and support statistical inference. Data from replicates are often summarized by averaging, but statistical methods such as ANOVA or mixed-effects models can incorporate replicates explicitly, accounting for nested designs and random effects. In high-throughput fields like genomics or proteomics, replicates help stabilize estimates of dispersion and increase reliability of differential analyses.

Beyond the scientific sense, the term Replikat or Replikate can also denote a physical copy or replica of an object in German-language usage, including cloned or duplicated specimens or artifacts. The concepts of replication and reproducibility are related, with replication referring to repeating studies and reproducibility to achieving consistent results across efforts.