Making and reading microarrays

There are a variety of options for making microarrays and obtaining microarray data. Here, we describe the building and use of two microarray facilities in academic settings. In addition to specifying technical detail, we comment on the advantages and disadvantages of components and approaches, and provide a protocol for hybridization. The fact that we are now making and using microarrays to answer biological questions demonstrates that the technology can be implemented in a university environment.