Recent Advances in i-Gene Tools and Analysis: Microarrays, Next Generation Sequencing and Mass Spectrometry.

ABSTRACT

Recent advances in technology and associated methodology have made the current period one of the most exciting in molecular biology and medicine. Underlying these is an appreciation that modern research is driven by increasing large amounts of data being interpreted by interdisciplinary collaborative teams which are often geographically dispersed. The availability of cheap computing power, high speed informatics networks and high quality analysis software has been essential to this as has the application of modern quality assurance methodologies. In this review, we discuss the application of modern ‘High-Throughput’ molecular biological technologies such as ‘Microarrays’ and ‘Next Generation Sequencing’ to scientific and biomedical research as we have observed. Furthermore in this review, we also offer some guidance that enables the reader as to understand certain features of these as well as new strategies and help them to apply these i-Gene tools in their endeavours successfully. Collectively, we term this ‘i-Gene Analysis’. We also offer predictions as to the developments that are anticipated in the near and more distant future.