Statistics and Data Analysis for Microarrays Using R and Bioconductor, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3

Microarrays

If at firs t you don’t succeed, you are running about average.

—M. H. Alderson

3.1 Microarrays – tools for gene expression analysis

In its most general form, a DNA array is usually a substrate (nylon membrane,

glass or plastic) on which one deposits single-stranded DNAs (ssDNA)with

various sequences. Usually, the ssDNA is printed in localized features that are

arranged in a regular grid-like pattern. In this book, we will conform with the

nomenclature proposed by Duggan et al. [139], and we will refer to the ssDNA

printed on the solid substrate as a probe.

What exactly is deposited depends on the technology used and on the

purpose