MICROARRAY:
- Microarray technology involves binding an array of thousands to millions of known nucleic acid fragments to a solid surface, referred to as a “chip.”
- The chip is then bathed with DNA or RNA isolated from a cells or tissue.
- Complementary base pairing between the sample and the chip-immobilized fragments produces light through fluorescence that can be detected using a specialized machine.
- The basic principle behind the DNA microarray is “nucleic acid hybridization”.
- In this process, two complementary strands of a DNA are joined together by hydrogen bonds to form a double-stranded molecule.
APPLICATION :
- Scientists are now able to understand the gene functions of any organism by tracking down thousands of genes and their products at the same time, with the help of this technology
- The microarray is currently used in three broad areas: medical diagnosis and treatment, biotechnological and other researches, as well as crime and security.
Few applications of the microarray are listed below:
The discovery of target: in this application, the microarray is used to compare diseased tissues/cells with healthy tissues/cells to find the characteristics of a particular disease. This helps in finding the genes responsible for that disease.
Diagnostics and prognostics: the microarray is widely used to know the state of disease, type of tumor and other factors important for the patient. It is used to diagnose a number of diseases and infections, most notably cancer.
Pharmacogenomics : the microarray technique can be used to decide a patient’s treatment and therapy on the basis of his/her genetic makeup. Thus, it helps in carrying out personalized treatments than using generalized ones. It can also help in controlling side effects of medications.