Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 11.1
Printhead with a series of pins. Source: http://cmgm.stanford.edu/pbrown/
that the coupling agent on the substrate has high affi nity for DNA in order to prevent it
from being washed away during the hybridization process.
11.2.2.2 Fabrication by photolithography
Photolithography is a technique for manufacturing high density oligonucleotide probe
arrays which involve the parallel synthesis of a large number of cDNA sequence. Each
set of probes has a distinct “address” on the surface of the substrate and in a single
hybridization process, these probes are capable of acquiring massive genetic informa-
tion from biological samples. The spatial resolution of the photolithographic proc-
ess determines the maximum density of the array. This will eventually determine the
amount of sequence information that can be encoded on a single array. To acquire a
large quantity of high spatial resolution genetic information from high density oligo-
nucleotide arrays, expensive lithography masks are needed. This increases the overall
cost of the equipments. Also, this technique is currently protected by patent and only
Affymetrix has the rights to use it.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search