The overall objective of this proposal is to obtain a high-capacity arrayer, the BioRobotics MicroGrid II TAS System, to enable our newly-developed Institutional Microarray Shared Research Facility to produce state-of-the-art cDNA microarrays with 20,000 or even up to 40,000 features. This Microarray Facility was approved in August 2000. The Microarray Facility Manager was recruited and began work in January, 2001. Renovation of the 600 sq. ft. assigned to the Microarray Facility is nearly complete, and additional clone banks and major items of equipment for their storage and processing into printable PCR products have been ordered and have begun to arrive. Through efforts initiated earlier by Mount Sinai faculty and staff, we have demonstrated the capacity to produce reproducible, high-quality cDNA arrays with up to 3000 features. Printing slides with 3000 features requires a Herculean effort due to the limited printing capacity of our existing GMS 417 arrayer. In addition to slow speed, this arrayer requires excessive quantities of purified PCR products because of its dead volume. With the requested instrumentation and Mount Sinai's institutional commitment or space, technical assistance, and service contract support, throughput will be greatly increased leading to a cost- effective Microarray Facility.
