a tree - structured index to multidimensional data is created using naturally occurring patterns and clusters within the data which permit efficient search and retrieval strategies in a database of dna profiles . a search engine utilizes hierarchical decomposition of the database by identifying clusters of similar dna profiles and maps to parallel computer architecture , allowing scale up past previously feasible limits . key benefits of the new method are logarithmic scale up and parallelization . these benefits are achieved by identification and utilization of naturally occurring patterns and clusters within stored data . the patterns and clusters enable the stored data to be partitioned into subsets of roughly equal size . the method can be applied recursively , resulting in a database tree that is balanced , meaning that all paths or branches through the tree have roughly the same length . the method achieves high performance by exploiting the natural structure of the data in a manner that maintains balanced trees . implementation of the method maps naturally to parallel computer architectures , allowing scale up to very large databases .