That's the Spot!

Autogen separates signal from background on microarray images.

Microarray technology is revolutionizing drug discovery, genetic diagnostics, and genomic research. However, processing and analyzing images can be problematic. Semiautomated processing tools such as BioDiscovery's ImaGene^™ now enable scientists to process images more efficiently and quickly. Given the array boundaries, this technology locates each spot, and graphic user interface tools facilitate manual correction of misidentified spots.

Although semiautomated processing software provides clear advantages over previous microarray image analysis methods, its accuracy depends on the user's knowledge and experience. A fully automated system would provide consistency and minimize the possibility of human error. To this end, BioDiscovery has recently introduced the AutoGene Microarray Image Analysis System, a fully automated system that searches an image for DNA hybridization spots without any human assistance. AutoGene, which works with both membranes and slides, detects and separates spot signals from contamination and background. The operator just...