Functional Analysis
New sequencing technologies have both increased the rate of DNA sequence production and
decreased the cost. Because of this, large amounts of new sequence are being generated,
providing a wealth of data to be mined for information. Classical methods of single gene
expression analysis cannot begin to keep up with this flood of new data. Genome-wide
functional analysis is a burgeoning area of research focused on understanding global
patterns of gene expression in an organism. One of the projects using the Microarrayer and Scanner involves the
arraying of ESTs, or Expressed Sequence Tags, from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In the pilot experiments, ~1500 separate DNA
samples are spotted onto glass slides with the Microarrayer; these spots are arrayed in less than a
square centimeter. The slides are then hybridized with fluorescently labeled cDNA probes made
from RNA isolated from different plant tissues or from different stages of development.
Differential gene expression of the entire array of samples can be assessed at once, providing a
powerful analytical tool for understanding regulatory networks involved in the life of an
organism.
For detailed information on the instruments used in Functional
Analysis view these pages:
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