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Energy||Materials Science| |Biochemistry||Molecular Cell
Biology| |Computer Science||Plant Sciences| Addressing this and
similar challenges may soon be easier thanks to Prof. Eytan
Domany of the Weizmann Institute's Physics of Complex Systems
Department and doctoral students Gad Getz and Erel Levine. The
team has designed a unique mathematical system for analyzing
genetic data based on a computer algorithm that 'clusters'
information into relevant categories. The algorithm searches
simultaneously for clusters of 'similar' genes and patients by
evaluating the gene expression of tissue samples. (A gene's
'expression' refers to the production level of the proteins it
encodes.) Reported in the October 17 issue of the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the algorithm's most
powerful feature is that it mimics unassisted learning. Unlike
most automated 'sorting' processes, in which