How Does DNA Microarray Technology Work?
Courtesy: National Human Genome Research Institute DNA microarrays are created by robotic machines that arrange minuscule amounts of hundreds or thousands of gene sequences on a single microscope slide. Researchers have an unlimited number of sequences that they can use for this purpose. When a gene is activated, cellular machinery begins to copy certain segments of that gene. The resulting product is known as messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA produced by the cell is complementary and will bind to the original portion of the DNA strand from which it was copied. To determine which genes are turned on and which are turned off in a given cell, messenger RNA molecules present in that cell are collected. Each mRNA molecule is labeled by attaching a fluorescent dye. Next, the researcher places the labeled mRNA onto a DNA microarray slide. The messenger RNA and its fluorescent tag that was present in the cell then bind to its complementary DNA on the microarray. A researcher must then use a spec
