As genomics morphs into proteomics and the quest to understand the biological functions of proteins accelerates, researchers continue to look for the best methods that will speed their understanding; one of them is the use of DNA microarrays. Stephen Friend, vice president of basic research at Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, Pa., and his research team demonstrated in this Hot Paper how to compare a gene expression profile in yeast cells to 300 "compendium" profiles, and then infer which of the cell's molecular pathways may have been enhanced or disrupted.1 "The concept of this was that you could get the equivalent of functional signatures from DNA or expression arrays," he says.
The key is pattern recognition. The team generated expression profiles for 300 mutants and chemical treatments and then used this library as a reference when they captured array data.
Most attempts to figure out a gene's function focuses ...
