Patent ID: 6671627
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: G16B,G16C

Abstract:
A method for designing combinatorial arrays, comprising the steps of:(1) determining a number of reagents to be selected from a plurality of variation sites in a combinatorial library, wherein said number of reagents is smaller than or equal to a number of candidate reagents at each of said variation sites in said combinatorial library; (2) selecting said number of reagents from a plurality of candidate reagents at each of said variation sites in said combinatorial library; (3) evaluating fitness (fâ€²) of a combinatorial array resulting from the systematic combination of said number of reagents selected in step (2); (4) independently evaluating a plurality of candidate reagents from one of said variation sites in said combinatorial library by evaluating combinatorial sub-arrays resulting from the systematic combination of each of said plurality of candidate reagents from said one of said variation sites in said combinatorial library with the selected reagents from each of said variation sites other than said one of said variation sites in said combinatorial library; (5) ranking each of said candidate reagents in said plurality of candidate reagents from said one of said variation sites in said combinatorial library based on results obtained in step (4); (6) selecting a new set of reagents from said plurality of candidate reagents from said one of said variation sites in said combinatorial library based on the results of said ranking step; (7) repeating steps (4), (5) and (6) for each of said variation sites in said combinatorial library; (8) evaluating fitness (f) for a combinatorial array resulting from the systematic combination of the selected reagents at each of said variation sites in said combinatorial library; (9) setting fâ€² equal to f and repeating steps (4) through (8), if f is a better fitness than fâ€²; and (10) outputting said combinatorial array from step (8), if f is not a better fitness than fâ€².