Gene Chips

A microarray or gene chip has made a big impact on DNA probe technology by helping detect tens of thousands of sequences almost simultaneously. A gene chip is a device in which a large number of different probes are carefully placed at specific locations on a glass slide (known as spotted arrays) or by putting probes to specific positions on some surface.

The use of gene chips involves labeling the sample instead of the probe, propagating thousands of copies of the labeled sample across the chip and then washing away any copies of the sample that do not remain attached to some probe. Because the probes are attached to specified positions on the chip, if a labeled sample is detected at any position on the chip, it can easily be known which probe was able to hybridize its complement.

Gene chips are most commonly used to measure the expression level of various genes in an organism. Each expression level gives a picture of the rate by which a specific protein is being produced in an organism’s cells at any given time. It should also be noted that more novel uses for gene chips are being continually developed and this is what makes this particular field very exciting.