General Discussion and Future Directions - DNA Microarray Technology and Data Analysis in Cancer Research - page 101

CHAPTER 6
General Discussion and Future Directions
As emphasized in Chapter 1, DNA microarray technology allows the
parallel and simultaneous detection of more than 30 000 genes in cells.
Although large genome-scale cDNA or RNAi screens are powerful and
efficient, they examine only one gene at a time, and will not uncover bio-
logical activities that often rely on multiple collaborating genes. Thus,
DNA microarray is one of the best assays available for studying complex
biological processes at a transcriptional level. At present, DNA microar-
ray technology in cancer research is at a stage that, at best, provides
information about disease-associated molecular signatures derived from
analysis of the expression of basically all genes. There is still a long way
to go before a diagnostic decision can be made based solely on DNA
microarray data. This is largely due to the lack of a more powerful method
for analysis of DNA microarray data. The development of new analytical
methods of DNA microarray data is a critical step to take. In this regard,
our SDL global optimization method described in this topic has signifi-
cantly changed our way of analyzing DNA microarray data, and has
brought us much closer to making decisions based on microarray data.
As we know, a gene is a fundamental constituent of any living organ-
ism. The machinery of each human body is built and run with 50 000 to
100 000 different kinds of genes or protein molecules. With the comple-
tion of the Human Genome Project, one has access to large databases of
biological information. Proper analysis of such huge data holds immense
promise in bioinformatics. The applicability of data mining in this domain
cannot be denied, given the life-saving prospects of effective drug design.
This is also of practical interest to the pharmaceutical industry (Mitra and
Acharya, 2005).
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