Abstract
Rapid Development in the Microarray Industry Encourages Companies to Produce
Nanoarrays
The microarray industry has evolved very rapidly from providing highly
specialized techniques for a few genetic researchers to becoming a laboratory
standard in molecular biology and clinical research. Heartened by this
phenomenal growth, several research groups have started producing nanoarrays, in
which thousands of binding sites can be printed into the area of a single
conventional microarray spot. Novel, high-throughput methods for expressing and
purifying proteins can also help companies build vast libraries of recombinant
proteins to place on chips.
This Technical Insights study, Emerging Technologies in Lab-on-a-Chip:
Microarrays and Biochips, examines various technology developments in the
microarray industry. These include applications, design, fabrication, new
detection methods, microfluidic arrays, and further miniaturization down to the
nanoarray level. It also summarizes the research conducted by top scientists and
companies as well as start-ups. Furthermore, it discusses the drivers and
challenges that stand in the way of commercial success of the technology.
Microarrays Useful in Discovery, Sequence Analysis and Monitoring of Protein
Expression
Microarray technologies are likely to find significant scope in genomics and
proteomics, with miniaturization enabling high-throughput processing. The
applications they cover include genotyping, mutation screening, gene expression,
and protein-interaction studies. "Ultimately, DNA microarray studies
promise to expand the size of existing gene families, reveal new patterns of
coordinated expression across gene families, and uncover entirely new categories
of genes," says the analyst of this research. It will also aid clearer
understanding of co-ordination among genes and their inter-relation.
The potential of microarrays extends beyond peptides and nucleotides. Another
segment that could receive a boost from the developments in microarray
technology is disease diagnosis. Promising results from the use of DNA
microarrays to classify subtypes of cancer may help determine the most
appropriate treatment strategy. Other microarray technologies in the pipeline
include carbohydrate chips, and cell, tissue, and chemical arrays. Microarrays
portability, rapid assay times, and smaller sample requirements could be major
factors in encouraging their uptake in the healthcare sector despite their
current high costs. Conversely, increased use should bring costs down.
Reliability and Standardization Issues Need to Be Resolved for Wider
Acceptance of Microarrays
The precision of microarray assays has been a significant concern among end
users, since current tests still produce a fairly high level of false positives
and false negatives. This can be a debilitating problem in the diagnostics
industry, which traditionally requires robust and cost-effective test platforms
with a high degree of precision. Since this is a major market for microarray
technologies, research centers are already working on remedial measures.
Standardization is also receiving a lot of attention from researchers --
especially with the current need to compare data obtained from different
platforms now available. The various participants need to agree on a unified
technology platform to design, process, read, and analyze DNA arrays.
"Until precision and standardization are improved, researchers will have to
continue to discard the raw data (the data on the chips) in the event that some
information needs to be rechecked," notes the analyst.
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