ABSTRACT
Abstract ................................................................................................................. 159 Introduction........................................................................................................... 159 Benefit of Automation to Microarray Experiments ............................................. 160 Automation for Array Processing......................................................................... 161 Data Collection, Analysis, and Sample Tracking ................................................ 163 Pitfalls of Automation .......................................................................................... 165 Summary ............................................................................................................... 165 References............................................................................................................. 165
Accelerating the rise of genomic research, microarrays have become an essential means for high-throughput gene expression profiling for both the pharmaceutical industry and academia. The diversity of microarray applications continues to broaden, experiment size is growing, and demands for higher throughput are being driven by the success of the technology. Similar to the rise of automated DNA sequencing technology in the late 1980s, specialized core labs, within industry and academia, are becoming the ideal environment to handle the requirements of the platform. Automation is a key component to achieving reproducibility and throughput in these environments. This chapter focuses on strategies for increasing throughput and decreasing variability through rational implementation of automation.
