Overview of nucleic acid arrays

Nucleic acid array technology refers to the use and fabrication of arrays containing thousands of nucleic acid samples bound to solid substrates such as glass microscope slides or silicon wafers. Because the physical area occupied by each sample is usually 50 to 200 mum in diameter, it is possible to assay nucleic acid samples representing entire genomes, ranging in size from 3,000 to 32,000 genes, on a single slide. Microarrays are good for, among other things, analyzing gene expression patterns, genotyping and genetic mapping, comparative genomic hybridization, polysome analysis, and DNA-protein interactions. This overview describes the technology and the uses, and provides valuable web site listings for readers to obtain additional information.