Several companies offer arrays printed in microplate wells,1 but Tucson, Ariz.-based High Throughput Genomics Inc. (HTG) is the first to allow processing of small samples in the microplates prior to analysis. The result is "higher sensitivity and reproducibility," says HTG's CEO and president Bruce Seligmann, making the technology ideal for target gene validation or drug dose response profiling.
Scientists can use HTG's Multiplexed Molecular Profiling (MMP) technology to assess protein function and genetic polymorphisms, but the most popular application is measuring the RNA expression levels of a set of genes in multiple samples. Helen Brady, a scientist with San Diego-based Signal Pharmaceuticals, says her company has identified a number of interesting genes through array methods and is now using the HTG's ArrayPlate™ product "to look at the levels of a subset of genes under different conditions."
The technique works by adding linker oligonucleotides to a...
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