Quick calculation for sample size while controlling false discovery rate with application to microarray analysis

Sample size calculation is important in experimental design and is even more so in microarray or proteomic experiments since only a few repetitions can be afforded. In the multiple testing problems involving these experiments, it is more powerful and more reasonable to control false discovery rate (FDR) or positive FDR (pFDR) instead of type I error, e.g. family-wise error rate (FWER). When controlling FDR, the traditional approach of estimating sample size by controlling type I error is no longer applicable.