Contact UsFocused arrays contain a selected number of genes involved in a pathway of interest.
Advantages:
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ability to retain the power of microarray technology for monitoring a set of genes selecting for their involvement in a specific pathway
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higher throughput capacity at a fraction of the cost of regular microarray experiments.
Crucial condition to achieve otimal performance:
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to determine a reliable baseline signal
This can be achieved only by providing significant technical replications of the genes of interests on the arrays and including large numbers of external controls. Using spiked-in controls has proven to be an efficient way for monitoring signal variations in microarrays and assessing the overall quality of the experiment (van de Peppel et al., 2003). Without taking into account these controls, various normalization methods, such as Lowess (see discussion of normalisation techniques below), could not safely be applied, as the basic assumption underlying the methods would not be applied with confidence.
Specific tools are at hand to tackle the problem. These same tools can actually be helpful when devising focused arrays (Draghici et al., 2003).