Word: microarray
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...result--the DNA microarray--is one of the most powerful tools in modern biology. Genetic material from the cell being studied is poured over the microarray and incubated in a solution containing fluorescent snippets of the same genes. If a gene is active, a corresponding gene on the microarray glows under UV light--a visual snapshot of the cell's genetic script. "Microarrays," says Brown, "offer an easy way to see the language the genome uses to send instructions that define every cell in your body...
...microarray is the latest in a long line of scientific coups for Brown, who was among the first to learn how the AIDS virus replicates within healthy cells. "I'm just a scientist who's always daydreaming," he says, "and any time I think I have an interesting idea, I pursue...
...overall patterns of gene expression in cells interest drug designers because they provide a molecular lineup of potential drug targets. But scientists trying to identify those targets have long been limited to probing active genes one at a time. No longer. Microarray kits, like those made by Affymetrix, based in Santa Clara, Calif., allow scientists to scan up to 60,000 gene sequences in a single step...
...probe cellular gene activity en masse, scientists first isolate the molecules that translate genes into proteins. They then copy these molecules into their corresponding DNA sequences, tag those sequences with fluorescent markers and pour the tagged sequences over the microarray. Active genes in this biochemical stew stick like Velcro to their single-stranded partners on the chip, creating patterns of fluorescent dots that reveal which genes are turned on. "This technology has fundamentally altered how we explore biology," says Dr. Olli Kallioniemi of the NIH, who studies gene expression in cancers...
...also created something of a microarray gold rush. Several firms--from pioneering Affymetrix to the upstart Incyte Genomics, based in Palo Alto, Calif.--help pharmaceutical companies identify drug targets found exclusively in diseased cells. Others, like Phase-1 Molecular Toxicology of Santa Fe, N.M., sell chips that test how chemicals affect gene expression, allowing pharmaceutical firms to quickly reject candidate drugs too toxic to be worth pursuing...