ABSTRACT
In this chapter we will survey the kinds of solid-supports (substrates) and surface chemistries that are currently being used in the creation of nucleic acid and protein microarrays. Which are the best supports and methods of attachment for nucleic acids or proteins? Does it make sense to use the same attachment chemistry or substrate format for these biomolecules? In order to begin to understand these kinds of questions it is important to briefly review how such biomolecules have been attached in the past to other solid-supports such as affinity chromatography media, membranes, or ELISA microtiter plates. However, there are a few unique properties and metrics, as well, that the microarray substrate does not share with its predecessors. Principal among these are printing, spot morphology, and image analysis. These are the subject of subsequent chapters.
