Method and system for analysis of time-series molecular quantities

A system for analyzing a plurality of groups of time-series genes, the system comprising:

• means for determining, for at least one gene within a first group of samples and a second group of samples, a gene expression at various time points in the first group and in the second group;
• means for determining, for the at least one gene, a time-dependent score that comprises a difference between the gene expression in the first group at a given time point and the gene expression in the second group at the given time point;
• means for determining an expected difference parameter that comprises a difference between a mean expression of the gene in a third group of samples and a mean expression of the gene in a fourth group of samples;
• means for comparing a difference between the time-dependent score and the expected difference parameter to a threshold at the given time point;
• and
• means for determining significant genes at the time point on the basis of the comparison.

A computer program embodied on a recordable medium, the program comprising instructions for analyzing a plurality of groups of time-series genes by:

• determining, for at least one gene within a first group of samples and a second group of samples, a gene expression at various time points in the first group and in the second group;
• determining, for the at least one gene, a time-dependent score that comprises a difference between the gene expression in the first group at a given time point and the gene expression in the second group at the given time point;
• determining an expected difference parameter that comprises a difference between a mean expression of the gene in a third group of samples and a mean expression of the gene in a fourth group of samples;
• comparing an absolute difference between the time-dependent score and the expected difference parameter to a threshold at the given time point;
• and
• determining significant genes at the time point on the basis of the comparison.