Microarrays

Microarrays are laboratory tools used to measure gene expression across many samples simultaneously. They consist of a miniaturized array on which thousands of short DNA molecules, or probes, are attached. Each probe is complementary to a specific gene, and when the array is exposed to genetic material, a reaction occurs that produces a signal that can be measured. The strength of this signal is proportional to the amount of gene expression present in the sample. Microarrays are powerful tools used to analyze the activity of many genes at once, making them an invaluable resource in fields ranging from disease diagnosis to crop improvement.