Gene expression in normal and disease states--identification of therapeutic targets.

Analysis of gene-expression patterns derived from large expressed sequence tag (EST) databases has become a valuable tool in the discovery of therapeutic targets and diagnostic markers. Sequence data derived from a wide variety of cDNA libraries offer a wealth of information for identifying genes for pharmaceutical product development. Collecting, storing, organizing, analyzing and presenting cDNA expression data requires advanced bioinformatics methods and high-performance computational equipment. Comparison of expression patterns from normal and disease tissues enables inferences about gene function to be made, and medically relevant genes as candidates for therapeutics research and development programs to be identified.