public String getPatientList(String genes){
		String ret = "";
		String[] t = genes.split(":");
		HashSet<String> pats = new HashSet<String>();
		for (int i=0; i<t.length; i++){
			for (String s : sampleValueHash.get(t[i])){
				if (!s.equals("no_sample")){
					pats.add(s);
				}
			}	
		}
		
		ArrayList<String> as = new ArrayList<String>();
		for (String s : pats){
			as.add(s);
		}
		
		Collections.sort(as);
		
		for (int i=0; i<as.size(); i++){
			ret = ret + as.get(i) + ",";
		}
		
		if (ret.length()>0){
			if (ret.charAt(ret.length()-1)==','){
				ret = ret.substring(0, ret.length()-1);
			}
		}

		return ret;
	}