A detection system for identifying genes with outlier expression across multiple samples, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving gene expression data of a plurality of samples, the samples comprising gene expression values corresponding to genes; standardizing the gene expression data using the median and median absolute deviation of each gene; determining a value of a distribution statistic for the standardized gene expression observations based on a probability of outlier gene expression data, wherein the determining the value of the distribution statistic comprises: for each sample, calculating a probability of a gene being expressed at or above a predetermined threshold using Bernoulli trials based on the total number of samples and a percentile cutoff for the gene; determining a null distribution of the distribution statistic using the standardized gene expression data; and outputting a significance value of the genes across the multiple samples, the significance value based on the value of the distribution statistic and the null distribution. at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving gene expression data of a plurality of samples, the samples comprising gene expression values corresponding to genes; standardizing the gene expression data using the median and median absolute deviation of each gene; determining a value of a distribution statistic for the standardized gene expression observations based on a probability of outlier gene expression data, wherein the determining the value of the distribution statistic comprises: for each sample, calculating a probability of a gene being expressed at or above a predetermined threshold using Bernoulli trials based on the total number of samples and a percentile cutoff for the gene; determining a null distribution of the distribution statistic using the standardized gene expression data; and outputting a significance value of the genes across the multiple samples, the significance value based on the value of the distribution statistic and the null distribution. receiving gene expression data of a plurality of samples, the samples comprising gene expression values corresponding to genes; standardizing the gene expression data using the median and median absolute deviation of each gene; determining a value of a distribution statistic for the standardized gene expression observations based on a probability of outlier gene expression data, wherein the determining the value of the distribution statistic comprises: for each sample, calculating a probability of a gene being expressed at or above a predetermined threshold using Bernoulli trials based on the total number of samples and a percentile cutoff for the gene; determining a null distribution of the distribution statistic using the standardized gene expression data; and outputting a significance value of the genes across the multiple samples, the significance value based on the value of the distribution statistic and the null distribution.