Design of Microarray Probes for Detection of Mutations

As we gather knowledge about the relationship between genetic mutations and the predisposition to certain diseases, it becomes of importance to screen for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in entire populations, using low cost and fast methods. Microarrays are a recent technology characterized by the miniaturization of DNA hybridization sampling and the scalability of the monitored DNA sequences, making available the detection of genomic polymorphisms in a large scale. A draw back in this technology, however, is the large time consuming work associated with the design of probes for such propose, due to the several properties that all probes must have in common and, at same time, the uniqueness of each one.In this article we present a computational solution to automate the process of probe design for the purpose of mutations detection, reducing the overall workflow time and increasing the accuracy of the final probes.