ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with asking questions about coordinated gene activity, gene pathways, multivariate gene expression predictors of response or outcome, and the development of complex multivariate biomasses. A microarray consists of a fat surface on which one can place a substance derived from a biological specimen, subsequently processes the microarray through an appropriate reader, and thereby estimate the quantity of mRNA present for multiple genes or expressed sequence tags in the original biological specimen from which the substance was extracted. There are classes of microarrays utilized for such purposes as genotyping, proteomic analysis, and quantification of the amount of a given type of mRNA in a biological specimen. The line demarcated with triangles indicates the number of citations in Web of Science in each year containing the word microarray or microarrays. A common technique in microarray research involves pooling mRNA from multiple tissue specimens. There are three general designs for a spotted microarray experiment: reference design, balanced block, and loop design.
