DNAinsight: An Image Processing System for 2-D Gel Electrophoreisis of Genomic DNA

We have developed a powerful image processing system DNAinsight, which performs automated detection of several thousands of spots found on autoradiogram images obtained with 2-D gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA. Algorithms and parameters for detecting spot locations and intensities are carefully chosen so as to enable reliable and rapid processing of 2-D gel electrophoretograms based on the RLGS (restriction landmark genomic scanning) method. In DNAinsight, matching of several related spot patterns, such as those from tumor-cell and normal-cell, can be accomplished rapidly with easy operations, being solved by comparing the Delaunay net and relative neighborhood graph. The automated and accurate image processing system strongly supports the rapid identification and analysis of genetic variation in the DNA of humans and other animals.