Chapter 30 : Microarray Analysis of Genome Expression

Abstract:

As scientists learned more about DNA and gene function, they developed tools based on their knowledge that let them ask even more questions. The structure of DNA was worked out in the 1950s, and during that decade, enough experimental evidence was accumulated to convince even the skeptics that despite its chemical simplicity, it was indeed the hereditary material. The ability to clone DNA let scientists study individual genes and make probes. Armed with these technologies, they focused on understanding basic processes, such as the control of the expression of individual genes and the replication of DNA. One of the new tools that allow scientists to type many genes at once or to measure the expression of every gene in a cell in a single experiment is the microarray. The major difference with microarrays is that thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of different probes are used in a single experiment. Most researchers buy microarrays from companies that design and manufacture them. One of the first broad applications of genotyping will likely concern genes involved in the metabolism of medicines. Physicians have long known that different patients respond differently to the same medicines. Pharmacogenomics is an area of intense scientific research and commercial interest.