Helsinki Institute of Information Technology - Basic Research Unit

Data analysis for functional genomics

With the advent of microarrays, it is possible to obtain large amounts of data about the genes' expression - the transcriptional activity of genes in an organism. Whereas thousands of genes are measured at one time, only a few samples are usually measured due to cost constraints and the limited availability of tissue samples in a specific research scope.

Gene expression data analysis aims at revealing the specific roles played by genes in the situation at hand. Usually, the setting is to compare the gene expression profiles between normal and sick patients, for instance with cancer. Currently, the focus is shifting towards analyzing microarray data in conjuction with other sources of data or in more complicated combinations. For instance, the subject (patient) may have other clinical data. Also, the genes have additional attributes such as chromosomal location and maybe known relations to other genes. Ultimately, the data analysis helps in creating knowledge needed for developing prognostic and diagnostic tools, which are valuable in the clinical setting.

In short, current research activities include:

• Profiling of microarray data
• Gene expression data analysis in conjuction with other sources of data
• Time-series data of microarrays

The research group consists of researchers at the Helsinki University of Technology and at the University of Helsinki.

• Jaakko Hollmén
• Heikki Mannila
• Marko Salmenkivi
• Jouni Seppänen
• Salla Ruosaari