Word of the Day: Microarray

I think this is a good way to learn basic scientific fundamentals/techniques if you are not familiar with the field.

MICROARRAY

An experimental technique that utilizes known control DNA versus unknown (usually tumor derived) DNA samples in order to 1)determine levels of gene expression (abundance) 2)the sequence of the gene. Short sequences of sample DNA are labeled with a fluorescent dye and allowed to bind to gene sequences that are bound to a glass slide or "gene-chip". The non binding DNA's are washed off and the slide is "read" by computer to determine levels of fluorescence or the DNA sequence. The more intense the fluorescence, the gene is highly expressed.

Examples of companies that make the chips (which are very expensive) are Affymetrix (AFFX)and Agilent Tech (A).