Patent ID: 7031843

Claim:
A method in a computer system for generating a graphic display for visualization of gene expression in a molecular topography, comprising: providing a first set of data, the data comprising gene expression measurements and descriptive information for a first plurality of polynucleotides; defining an X-Y plane having a first axis corresponding to sequence identifiers and a second axis corresponding to polynucleotide sizes; generating a first gene expression profile within the X-Y plane for the first plurality of polynucleotides, the first profile comprising a plurality of peaks with each peak corresponding to a polynucleotide, the peak defined by: (i) a first value comprising a sequence identifier for the polynucleotide; (ii) a second value comprising a measure of size of the polynucleotide, wherein an intersection between the first value and the second value defines a point within the X-Y plane; and (iii) at the point, plotting along a Z-axis intersecting the X-Y plane a third value that is a measure of quantity of the polynucleotide; wherein the plurality of peaks is generated for the first plurality of polynucleotides so that the graphic display comprises a molecular topography of gene expression.