CIS-Regulatory Modules

1 . A process for identifying a cis-regulatory module comprising:

aligning a target sequence with at least one sequence from a moderately distant species;

determining a non-coding region of the target sequence, wherein the non-coding region comprises at least one of a high level of conservation and suppression of indels; and

identifying at least one cis-regulatory module in the target sequence.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the highly conserved region is identified by using a computer program.

3 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the computer program is BLASTn.

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein at least 30% of the nucleotides in the at least one sequence from the moderately distant species aligns with the target sequence.

5 . A process for identifying a transcription factor binding site comprising:

aligning a target sequence with at least one sequence from moderately distant species,

determining a non-coding region of the target sequence, wherein the non-coding region comprises at least one of a high level of conservation and a suppression of indels,

identifying at least one cis-regulatory module in the target sequence, and

performing an algorithm to locate at least one transcription factor binding site within the at least one cis-regulatory module.

6 . The process of claim 5 , wherein the at least one cis-regulatory module comprises about 12 transcription factor binding sites.

7 . A process for identifying a gene that is regulated by a transcription factor binding site comprising:

providing a first gene that encodes a first protein; and

identifying sequences that the first protein is known to bind to within a cis-regulatory module near a second gene.

8 . A method for providing assays to a consumer comprising:

providing at least one web-based user interface selected from the group consisting of:

a) an interface configured to receive an order for at least one stock assay,

b) an interface configured to receive a request for design of at least one custom assay and an order for said custom assay, and

c) an interface configured for a consumer to perform at least one search for at least one information item chosen from cis-regulatory modules, transcription factor binding sites, genes whose proteins bind these cis-regulatory module-embedded transcription factor binding sites, and SNPs that occur in cis-regulatory module-embedded transcription factor binding sites; and

delivering to the consumer at least one assay chosen from a custom assay and a stock assay in response to the order.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the information item is chosen from genomic and biomedical information from at least one public or private source.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the information item is a gene identification item selected from the group consisting of gene symbol, gene name, RefSeq accession number, Panther function, Panther process, Panther family name, Panther subfamily name, Panther family ID, GO function, GO process, GO identifier, GO subcellular location, Applied Biosystems identifier, Celera gene identifier (CG), Celera transcript identifier (CT), Celera protein identifier (CP), LocusLink identifier, GenBank nucleotide identifier, GenBank protein identifier, species identifier, chromosome identifier, haplotype identifier, cytoband identifier, RefSeq GI identifier, and combinations thereof.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one search comprises a batch search.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one search comprises a gene classification search.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the gene classification search comprises a biological process search.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the gene classification search comprises a molecular function search.

15 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the gene classification search comprises a subcellular location search.