def readPeakList(peak_file):
    """
    Read in list of peaks to delete from peaks_file.  Comment lines (#) and
    blank lines are ignored.
    """ 

    f = open(peak_file,'r')
    peak_list = f.readlines()
    f.close()
   
    peak_list = [l for l in peak_list if l[0] != "#" and l.strip() != ""] 
    peak_list = [l.strip() for l in peak_list]   
 
    return peak_list