RNA Preparation and Characterization for Gene Expression Studies

Much information can be obtained from knowledge of the relative expression level of each gene in the transcriptome. With the current advances in technology as little as a single cell is required as starting material for gene expression experiments. The mRNA from a single cell may be linearly amplified to an excess of 10⁶ -fold. Reverse transcription and fluorescent labeling of the amplified RNA yields a stable target for subsequent hybridization to DNA microarrays.