"RDA on a Chip” Detects Genomic Abnormalities

Researchers have developed a new technique called ROMA (representational oligonucleotide microarray analysis) for the detection of human genomic abnormalities in cancer genomes and in healthy genomes.

ROMA combines microarray technology with the powerful and versatile gene discovery method called representational difference analysis (RDA), which enables researchers to "clone the differences” between any two sets of DNA. This makes ROMA "RDA on a chip.”

Investigators at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY, USA) employed ROMA to achieve an average resolution of 30 kb throughout the genome, and showed that resolutions as high as a probe every 15 kb were practical. In cancer genomes, they detected amplifications and large and small homozygous and hemizygous deletions. One surprising outcome was that between normal human genomes, they frequently detected large (100 kb to 1 Mb) deletions or duplications. Their findings were reported September 15, 2003, in the online edition of Genome Research.

The authors predict that ROMA will assist in the discovery of genes and markers important in cancer and the discovery of loci that may be important in inherited predispositions to disease.




Related Links:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory