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Dr. Winston Kuo and colleagues’ April JADA article, "Microarrays and Clinical Dentistry," was very timely, since April 2003 is the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick, and the more recent mapping of the human genome.

Microarrays in the future will play a large role in diagnosis of disease and differences in individuals, including the oral cavity. More research will need to be done to determine which single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, are responsible for disease, and those that cause variations that make us all different. The Human Genome Project has identified 3.7 million SNPs as of February 2003.¹

The article is a very good presentation of the science behind microarrays. There is one small error in the description of the binding of complementary sequences. The statement would be correct if two DNA strands were being used. In his example, Dr. Kuo has a probe that is DNA and a target that is mRNA. In RNA, the pyramidine base thymine(T), which is found in DNA, is replaced with uracil(U). The mRNA sequence of the target would then be UACC-GAACUG, which would hybridize with the probe DNA.

Thanks again for Dr. Kuo’s fine article.

	REFERENCES

TOP REFERENCES

1. Collins FS, Morgan M, Patrinos A. The Human Genome Project: lessons from large-scale biology. Science 2003;300(5617):286–90.
   
   

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Preston, J. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Preston, J. D.