Life Science Technologies: Spot-On Protein Microarrays: An Old Proteomics Tool

When it comes to 'omics-inspired bioscience tools, next-gen DNA sequencing is the undisputed king. The previous champ was the DNA microarray, with the protein array its logical successor. Yet while DNA arrays achieved their potential, protein arrays never really took off, owing largely to the fact that, while every DNA oligo behaves more or less identically, the same cannot be said of proteins. They're also harder to synthesize, purify, and stabilize. Still, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumor of protein array's death has been greatly exaggerated. Today, new array formats and strategies have made the protein microarray a viable and growing tool for biomarker discovery, interactome research, functional genomics, and more.