But developing these tools is not easy, as protein arrays present technical challenges not faced by DNA microarray manufacturers. "You can attach any two pieces of DNA the same way and expect [them] to behave the same way," explains Nick Naclerio, chief business officer of Zyomyx (www.zyomyx.com), a Hayward, Calif.-based company offering protein arrays and microfluidics-based chip production. But proteins are heterogeneous, he adds, thus making it difficult to develop methods to attach them to biochips and have them remain functional. Proteins are also more difficult to synthesize than DNA and are more likely to lose structural or functional properties in different environments or when modified. Unlike DNA, where the sequence is all that matters, a protein's three-dimensional structure must be preserved.
Despite these problems, researchers and biotech companies have successfully developed protein arrays, most based on conventional DNA microarray technology. For example, Brian Haab, working in the laboratory of ...
