The Commercial Viability of Excavator: A Software Tool for Gene Expression Data Clustering

70677 The use of microarrays is rapidly expanding as a tool to support gene functionality and expression studies. However, these microarrays, which can now accommodate tens of thousands of genes in a single experiment, are spewing out a tidal wave of data that is causing a bottleneck to progress in biomedicine. The development of software tools and algorithms for mining these valuable data is lagging behind the instrumentation used to generate them. This project will further develop and enhance a software package for mining and managing these data, leading to the rapid and efficient clustering of genes and the prediction of those with similar functions. Phase I will identify features or aspects of the existing software package that need to be enhanced, so as to maximize the impact on the management of huge gene expression data bases. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The overwhelming amount of data is the most critical limiting factor to growth in the field of genomics and biomedicine. Until these data can be efficiently managed and analyzed, medical breakthroughs will be stifled and genomics will fail to fulfill its promise. This software should allow potential commercial users to analyze, mine, and manage their expression data more efficiently and accurately.