Microarray Data Reproduced, But Some Concerns Remain

Over the past several years, debate has raged in the microarray community over how reliably these microchip-sized tools measure gene expression. Now, in a clutch of six papers published online last week by Nature Biotechnology, a consortium of 137 researchers from 51 different organizations concludes that the technology works better than expected and that results can usually be reproduced across labs. But some caution that the findings, although a technical feat, do not mark the end of microarray worries, nor do they necessarily speed the entry of the devices into patient care.