Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1610009
UMD: Small solid plates (e.g., glass, silicon, nylon) on which densely packed samples (up to one million or more spots per microarray) of known sequences of nucleic acid nucleotides (e.g., DNA fragments known as oligonucleotides) in a predetermined array are either synthesized using photolithographic procedures or deposited using pin-spotting procedures (e.g., with ink-jet printers). Typically, the microarray is washed with a labeled (e.g., fluorescent) sample of an unknown sequence. The immobilized microarray spots mate with the sample sequences according to their complementary nature. The resulting fluorescence pattern permits the identification of the sample sequence using an appropriate reader (scanner) and/or data processing using a molecular array analyzer. Dedicated molecular microarrays are used for genetic expression, to detect variations in gene copies, and to detect gene mutations/polymorphisms.