Patent ID: 7438854

Claim:
A system including: a biomolecule bead-containing tube comprising a biomolecule bead array in which biomolecule beads having a specific biomolecule immobilized thereon, and marker beads comprising first marker beads having a light absorbing optical property and second marker beads having a light transmissive optical property, are arranged in a tubular container made of a material configured to transmit light having a specific wavelength, a device for determining the arrangement of the biomolecule beads and the marker beads which are in a predetermined order within the biomolecule bead array, wherein a first arrangement of a first set of biomolecule beads and marker beads in the tube corresponds to specimen identification information which identifies a specimen in the tube, wherein a second arrangement of a second set of biomolecule beads and marker beads in the tube corresponds to tube identification information which identifies the tube, and biomolecule attribution information which identifies the biomolecule beads; and wherein said tube identification information is encoded on the marker beads using a pattern of the first and second marker beads, the light absorbing and light transmissive optical properties optically distinguishing the first and second marker beads from each other.