The Dnachips
...DNA from a drop of blood and map your entire genetic code while you wait. Within a short period of time the proneness to any illness or disease could be mapped and studied. This is not a snippet from a fiction movie. Biologists and engineers will have ONE working in just a few years, because the tool that makes it possible, a genetic microarray known as the "DNA chip ", already exists. Able to scrutinize tens of thousands of genes at once, the DNA chip's astonishing abilities are astounding biologists. "Using these chips, people can in one afternoon confirm work that takes several years using conventional gene-sequencing processes". The chips aren't just about increased speed. Using them, researchers can do things that were previously almost impossible, such as, uncovering the genetic machinations behind the complex biochemistry of organisms. For example, with a yeast cell, virtually all of its 6200 genes can be represented on just four chips. It is then possible to take "snapshots" that reveal which genes are active, which are dormant and how these patterns change during the organism's life cycle. As of now all the 6200 genes of the yeast cell have been represented and it won't be too long before all the 100 000 human genes are mapped by the chips. The chips would radically change our ability to discover drugs, infectious processes and even disease processes that we didn't know about before. What silicon chips did for computers, DNA chips may do for biological research. Like computer chips, most DNA chips are produced by computer-controlled micro printing. In computer chips, the process lays down microscopic circuits and switches; in DNA chips, it puts down the stuff of genes.
What are DNAchips?
DNAchips are the DNA microarrays, which are the orderly arrangements of DNA samples fabricated by high-speed robotics on glass nylon or gold substrate. DNA chips...
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