ENHANCED DNA MICROARRAY PERFORMANCE WITH GAPPED PROBES

The goal of this project is to develop a more powerful and robust system for the sequencing and analysis of DNA by hybridization to microarrays. Our conceptually novel approach is based on a new probe design and sequence reconstruction algorithm which has been demonstrated by computational modeling to provide higher information density on a DNA hybridization chip. The Human Genome Project is providing unique insight into a wide range of biological phenomena and diseases. The biotechnology sector and end users of biotechnology products will drive a multibillion dollarmarket for DNA-based diagnostics and research tools. By the year 2005 it is expected that diagnostic tests based on DNA probes will be a $6 billion market. A significant portion of this market will use DNA microchip arrays. Our method will provide a superior method for analyzing DNA for medical diagnostics and for de novo sequencing. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL Improved DNA microarrays will be useful in clinical diagnostics, drug discovery expression profiling, as well as de novo DNA sequencing.