Patent ID: 7291456

Claim:
A method for determining the differences between the molecular interactions of two different mixtures of molecules, comprising: labeling a first mixture of molecules and a target mixture of molecules; introducing said first mixture of molecules to a combinatorial library of solid phase supports; incubating said combinatorial library with said first mixture of molecules; performing a first marking step to mark those of said solid phase supports that have a molecule of said first mixture bound to them; introducing said target mixture of molecules to said combinatorial library; incubating said combinatorial library with said target mixture of molecules; obtaining a first image showing as marked those of said solid phase supports that have a molecule of said first mixture bound to them; performing a second marking step to mark those of said solid phase supports that have a molecule of said target mixture bound to them; obtaining a second image showing as marked those of said solid phase supports that have a molecule of said target mixture bound to them; and creating a third image identifying those of said solid phase supports that have a molecule of said target mixture bound to them, wherein said third image is created by comparing said first image and said second image; wherein said first and said second images are graphical images, and said third image is created by comparing said first and said second images on a pixel-by-pixel basis; and, further, wherein said first image is image “A,” said second image is image “B,” and said third image is created by applying a formula (B−A)/A on a pixel-by-pixel basis.