Hoheisel Jörg D
Division of Functional Genome Analysis, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Rev Genet. 2006 Mar;7(3):200-10. doi: 10.1038/nrg1809.
Understanding complex functional mechanisms requires the global and parallel analysis of different cellular processes. DNA microarrays have become synonymous with this kind of study and, in many cases, are the obvious platform to achieve this aim. They have already made important contributions, most notably to gene-expression studies, although the true potential of this technology is far greater. Whereas some assays, such as transcript profiling and genotyping, are becoming routine, others are still in the early phases of development, and new areas of application, such as genome-wide epigenetic analysis and on-chip synthesis, continue to emerge.
理解复杂的功能机制需要对不同细胞过程进行全面且并行的分析。DNA微阵列已成为这类研究的代名词，并且在许多情况下，是实现这一目标的理想平台。它们已经做出了重要贡献，最显著的是在基因表达研究方面，尽管这项技术的真正潜力远不止于此。虽然一些检测方法，如转录谱分析和基因分型，正变得常规化，但其他方法仍处于早期开发阶段，并且新的应用领域，如全基因组表观遗传分析和芯片上合成，不断涌现。
