Microchips and clinical practice

Microarrays have revolutionized molecular biology and medicine, with thousands of hybridizations run and all known messengers of an organism studied together, instead of one gene and one messenger at a time. Major applications of microarray technology so far proposed refer to: a) genotyping, i.e. the definition of a specific genotype by direct detection of known mutations/polymorphisms; b) gene expression and discovery, i.e. in order to simply answer the following question «which genes are expressed and to what extent?». Specific applications include: a) predicting gene function, on the basis of specific expression patterns; b) linking cell pathways; c) «fingerprinting» of cellular or disease phenotype; d) drug discovery and drug target validation. In the present review we will give attempt to update the reader on the possible and practical use of microarray technology in clinical practice.