DNA microarrays in medical practice

The completion of the draft sequence of the human genome 1 2 has raised public awareness of "genomics" and of the ways in which the emerging technologies of the genomics "revolution" will have direct applications to patient care. 3DNA microarrays, or biochips, are prominent among these new technologies.The past five years have seen a dramatic rise in the use of DNA microarrays for biomedical research, in some cases with immediate applicability to clinical practice.The uses of microarrays for gene expression profiling, genotyping, mutation detection, and gene discovery are leading to remarkable insights into the function of thousands of genes previously known only by their gene sequence.This review discusses ways in which microarrays have started to affect clinical practice and research and how this role will develop in the next five to 10 years. MethodsThe data for this review reflect my personal views from 10 years of research in molecular medicine and five years on DNA microarrays.My views have developed over this period from discussions with colleagues in my own laboratory and at basic science and biotechnology meetings and from regular reading of Nature Genetics, Nature, Science, and other journals.