The genetics of cancer--a 3D model.

Gene expression microarrays hold great promise for studies of human disease states. There are significant technical issues specific to utilizing clinical tissue samples which have yet to be rigorously addressed and completely overcome. Precise, quantitative measurement of gene expression profiles from specific cell populations is at hand, offering the scientific community the first comprehensive view of the in vivo molecular anatomy of normal cells and their diseased counterparts. Here, we propose a model for integrating-in three dimensions-expression data obtained using the microarray.