Gene Chip Technology

Gene Chip Technology is also commonly known as DNA chip or DNA microarray. The core principle is hybridization between two DNA strands. That is, nucleic acid sequence determination is performed by hybridizing with a set of nucleic acid probes of known sequence. When the fluorescently labeled nucleic acid sequence in the solution is complementary to the nucleic acid probe at the corresponding position on the gene chip, a set of completely complementary probe sequences is obtained by determining the probe position with the strongest fluorescence intensity.

Gene chips can simultaneously analyze tens of thousands of genes in parallel for high-throughput screening and detection analysis. It solves the shortcomings of traditional nucleic acid blot hybridization technology, such as complex operation, low degree of automation, and a small number of target molecules.

• Chip preparation
  Arrange DNA fragments or protein molecules on the carrier in sequence as probes by in situ synthesis and microarray methods, using glass or silicon wafers as carriers.
• Sample collection
  Extract and amplify the sample to obtain the protein, DNA or RNA, and then label with fluorescent light to improve the sensitivity of detection.
• Hybridization reaction
  Select appropriate reaction conditions to make the reaction between biomolecules on the chip in the best condition and reduce the mismatch ratio between biomolecules.
• Signal detection and result analysis
  Pass the fluorescence position and fluorescence intensity of each reaction point on the chip through the chip scanner, analyze the image, convert the fluorescence into data, and obtain relevant biological information.

Fig. 1 The basic flow chart for gene chip technology.

• cDNA based microarrays
  For cDNA microarray preparation, probes (PCR amplified gene) are spotted on poly-l-lysine coated slide using robotic pins. Length of the oligonucleotide probe in CDNA microarray usually varies from 100 to 1000 bp. It is a high throughput technique and a highly parallel RNA expression assay technique that that can be quantitative from the RNA transcript of both known and unknown genes.
• Oligonucleotide based microarrays
  Oligonucleotide based microarrays is based on in situ chemical synthesis. Short, single-stranded DNA is synthesized by photolithography on a 5-inch-square quartz chip. The DNA probes are generally short length of about 25 bp. This type of microarray is faster, more specific and reproducible than cDNA microarrays, making it more suitable for expression analysis genotyping and sequencing.

• High degree of parallelism: it is conducive to the rapid comparison and reading of the maps displayed by the gene chip, and the efficiency is greatly improved.
• Diversity: it provides multi-indicator determination of samples.
• Miniaturization: the amount of samples required is very small, and it can also save the amount of reagents and reduce costs.
• Automation: it reduces costs and ensures quality.

• Drug screening and new drug development: such as genetically engineered insulin.
• Disease diagnosis: such as application in prenatal genetic disease examination.
• Environmental protection: gene chip can quickly detect the pollution and harm of polluting microorganisms or organic compounds. At the same time, it can also search for protective genes through large-scale screening and prepare genetic engineering drugs to prevent harm or genetic products to control pollution sources.
• Judicial field: identify criminals by DNA fingerprint comparison.
• Modern agriculture: gene chip technology can screen the gene mutations of crops and find the related genes of high yield. It can also be used in gene scanning, gene library mapping, commodity inspection and other fields.

Laboratory Centrifuges

A centrifuge is any device that applies a sustained centrifugal force—that is, a force due to rotation. The widest use of centrifuges is for the concentration and purification of materials in suspension or dissolved in fluids. Suspended particles denser than the suspending liquid tend to migrate toward the periphery, while those less dense move toward the centre.

Liquid Nitrogen Container

Liquid Nitrogen Storage Equipment is used to store biologic, genomic, and diagnostic samples in liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen tanks can generally be divided into storage and transport tanks. The storage tank is mainly used for static storage of indoor liquid nitrogen, and it is not suitable for long-distance transportation under working conditions. The transportation tank has a special shockproof design to meet the transportation conditions.

Pipette

Pipette is a small piece of apparatus which typically consists of a narrow tube into which fluid is drawn by suction (as for dispensing or measurement) and retained by closing the upper end. Pipettes are a common laboratory tool and come in a multitude of channels, displacements and construction materials. There are different pipettes for all kinds of uses within the lab.

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopes

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopes scan samples sequentially point by point, or multiple points at once. The pixel information is assembled into an image. As a result you acquire optical sections with high contrast and high resolution in x, y and z. It has many advantages over traditional microscope including the ability to look deeply into inside cells with less photodamage and photobleach and chart intracellular dynamic events in the living cells.

STEMart provides you with a variety of gene chip technology equipment or consumables to meet your various R&D and application needs. If you have any questions or requirements for gene chip technology, please feel free to contact us.