Scanning the Horizon - HP Gene Array Scanner

Photo: Courtesy of Affymetrix

Affymatrix Hybridization Pattern, the human p53 Gene

Affymetrix, the Santa Clara-based DNA chip company, has partnered with Hewlett Packard in the development of the HP GeneArray Scanner, a high resolution, high throughput scanner for use with GeneChip¨ probe arrays. The GeneChip Probe Array, a technology pioneered by scientists at Affymetrix, is a marriage between the computer and biotechnology industries which provides access to genetic information on miniaturized, high density DNA arrays. On each 1.28 cm x 1.28 cm glass chip are tens to hundreds of thousands of different oligonucleotide probes, laid out in precise locations and available for hybridization with fluorescent-labeled target nucleic acids. Once the sample is hybridized, scanners determine the locations of matches between each probe and the target, and since the sequence of the probes is known, the identity of the target nucleic acid can be determined.

The limitation of this technique is...