Time resolved reading of DNA microarray by an intensified CCD camera

Summary form only. The DNA microarray technology is the most appealing tool for genetic investigation that has been devised in recent years. Microarrays basically consist of a matrix of thousands or even more spots of DNA fragments or oligonucleotides arranged on a microscope slide. If a probe, marked with fluorescent molecules, containing a base sequence complementary to one in the array is spread onto the slide, hybridization takes place and the hybridized spot can be easily located by fluorescent imaging. Presently, a laser scanner and a photomultiplier are used for DNA microarray reading and the discrimination between different markers is made on the basis of different absorption/emission wavelengths. In the present paper we introduce, for the first time to our knowledge, a technique to read DNA microarrays based on an intensified CCD camera having a picosecond resolution electronic shutter. This device permits to map the fluorescence intensity in a microarray in just one shot.