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Abstract

In a computer system for analysis of gene expression data, a gene expression database is organized in a hierarchical b-tree according to the descriptive and clinical sample attributes stored in the database. A user submits a query for searching the database and defines attributes on which to filter for each level of the b-tree. A simple search can be employed to arbitrarily group together leaf nodes depending on their attributes. The grouped leaf nodes are used as 'control' and 'experimental' sample sets. A t-test can be performed to test for statistically significant regulation between the control and experimental sample sets. In one embodiment, the results of the b-tree analysis are organized as a table of information which may be part of a relational database. The data in the database are encoded according to a three-state scheme based on regulation behavior. A similarity search algorithm can be performed on the encoded data to identify genes or gene fragments that show regulation profiles similar to the query gene or gene fragment, ranking the genes according to the level of similarity.

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First Claim