The three-year, NIEHS-funded study compared a lab-built spotted long oligonucleotide microarray, and a commercially produced long oligonucleotide microarray. The two types were represented among 12 microarray platforms used by seven consortium laboratories, all of which generated data from two standard RNA expression samples, one derived from mouse livers and the other taken from tissues of several mouse organs.
According to the study, reproducibility between platforms and across laboratories was generally poor, but reproducibility between laboratories dramatically increased to acceptable levels when a commercial microarray was used with standardized protocols for labeling the RNA, processing the microarrays, acquiring data and other elements.
"The bottom line is that if you use commercial platforms, you get very good interlaboratory consistency and correlation of data," Spencer said. "We've now entered a new era in which we can move forward confident that we have reliable platforms."
And this is particularly important as scientists delve deeper into the genomes of humans and other animal species in their quest to find cures for a variety of diseases.
"Human genome mapping has made the production of these microarrays possible," Spencer said. "Our interest is in how environmental factors ?drugs, pollutants, workplace substances, natural toxins, food chemicals, fragrance raw materials, other factors ?impact or interact with the genome to produce disease. That's the big task before us."