基因芯片－同时研究数以千计的生物技术

The introduction of microarray technology represented a paradigm shift in the way that biological science is performed. This shift involved a switch from conducting purely hypothesis driven research to hypothesis generating research. It is no longer necessary for a biologist to attempt to determine which gene or class of genes they would like to study. Instead, researchers can now look at an entire collection of genes, in deed for several organisms, all the potential genes, to determine which are implicated in a particular process. Once a key set of genes are identified, then the biologist can return to more classical means to undertake a hypothesis driven approach. Coincident with this change in focus is a change in terminology. No longer do we simply study gene expression, with microarrays, we now study genomics : gene expression on a global scale. Originally, microarrays were used to study processes such as cell cycle regulation, or to profile diseases such as cancer; areas of research that studied gene expression as a matter of course. Now however, as the technique grows in popularity, and the cost has been reduced through economies of scale, new areas of research are beginning to employ microarrays. Microarrays are now being used in agricultural research, toxicology, and food safety. In addition, although, arrays were originally designed to assay gene expression, they have now been adapted to study genetic mutation, protein expression, and protein function. The past couple of years have seen the introduction of arrays of protein, cells, tissues and even small molecules. Each of these tools will allow microarrays to find footholds into ever more areas of research.This review will attempt to give a general overview of microarray technology and then look at the application of microarrays to two aspects of disease, genetic based disease and infectious disease. Issues of experimental design and data analysis will also be addressed.     

基因芯片-同时研究数以千计的生物技术

基因芯片技术的出现改变了生物科学的研究方法。该技术使得从假说驱动的研究方法转变为研究后产生新的假说。再没有必要提前确定将要研究的基因或基因组。取而代之，研究人员可以检验整个基因组成一实际上是几个有机物和全部与某一特殊生物过程有关基因组，可同时被辨认。反过来与传统的研究方法做一比较，此改变同时伴随着研究术语的改变。人们不再只是简单的研究基因表达。用基因芯片，笔者现在可进行基因学研究。也就是将大量基因同时表达出来。最初，基因芯片被用于某些与基因表达有关的生物过程的研究，如细胞周期调节或疾病的分类，如癌症。然而现在随着基因芯片的普及和研究领域的增加而致费用减低，使得基因芯片技术被应用于许多新的研究领域。当今已被用于农业研究，毒素学和食品检疫等研究领域。另外，尽管基因芯片起初是被设计基因表达的检测，现在它们被用于基因突变，蛋白质表达和蛋白质功能的研究。在过去几年中，蛋白质、细胞、组织及小分子芯片相继出现，使基因芯片技术进入更广泛的研究领域。该综述意在一般性回顾基因芯片技术及其应用。重点描述与基因有关的疾病和感染性疾病。同时涉及实验设计及资料分析。