10-02-2010, 04:14 PM
Abstract:
Imagine a device no bigger than a credit card that could extract your 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 genesequencing 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. With a yeast cell, for example, 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. 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 . Systems Biology will be the challenge of the 21 st century and the best and most efficient way to understand the biology of systems will be to use tools such as these chips
