Patent ID: 6245517
Filing Date: 2001-06-12
Classification: G16B

Abstract:
A method for analyzing gene expression in a cDNA micro-array image, the method comprising:identifying target sites in the cDNA micro-array image, wherein the target sites are associated with a set of genes;computing a maximum-likelihood estimator for a coefficient of variation of expression level ratio samples, where the expression level ratio samples are taken from a collection of expression values for each gene in the set of genes associated with the target sites identified in the micro-array image, the expression level ratio samples indicate a ratio of an expression level for a first cell type to an expression level for a second cell type for a corresponding gene, and the expression levels for the corresponding gene are taken from a target site associated with the corresponding gene in the cDNA micro-array image;computing a confidence interval for the expression level ratio samples based on the maximum likelihood estimator for a coefficient of variation of expression level ratio samples; andidentifying genes corresponding to expression level ratio samples outside the confidence interval.