Nonparametric Comparison of Genomic Sequences Pranab K. Sen University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Joint work with Hildete P. Pinheiro and A. de Souza Pinheiro, Unicamp, Brazil) In genomics one has essentially high-dimensional qualitative responses for which (discrete or continuous) conventional multivariate analysis tools are not of much use; even likelihood formulations run into roadblocks. For this reason, some alternative procedures that attach less emphasis on the likelihood approaches, and more on alternative nonparametric measures are considered here. The Hamming distance is a very notable tool in this respect, and related nonparametrics are highlighted. U-statistics theory occupies a focal point in this respect.