Instruments based on biochips and tools, such as Brown's and Garner's microarray robots, represent a shift in biotechnology research. In this post-genomic world, scientists will need different tools to mine sequences of DNA in search of genes that make a person susceptible to different types of cancers, for example. Once the genes are identified, researchers can target therapies and drugs to combat the condition. A microarray robot is a machine that allows researchers to build their test samples. These samples are made up of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of rows of tiny dots arranged on a glass slide.
Researchers looking for genes typically run multiple tests to find a single gene.
The more dots they can fit onto a slide, the more tests they can run, and the more likely they are to find the contents of unknown genetic material. Microarray robots represent a new approach to genetics research, and Garner believes the instrument will be as important in targeting genes as the sequencer has been in mapping out the various genomes. Without the microarray robot, scientists cannot make their dot-blotted slides. Access to the information and analysis comes at a steep cost. Incyte officials said an analysis can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the number of slides needed and the genetic material used.