ABSTRACT
We owe much of our present understanding of gene expression to microarray studies. Two enabling technologies-the Affymetrix biochip and the glass microarray slide-are responsible. The commercialization of Affymetrix’s GeneChip provided perhaps the first standardized tool for genomics-based research. Aside from cost considerations, the GeneChip represented a “closed” system. Researchers at the time were limited by the oligonucleotide probe content provided on these biochips. This made it difficult for biologists who were not studying human genomics or genetic mutation. The glass slide microarray changed all of that in an instance.
