Illumina universal bead arrays

Abstract

This chapter describes an accurate, scalable, and flexible microarray technology. It includes a miniaturized array platform where each individual feature is quality controlled and a versatile assay that can be adapted for various genetic analyses, such as single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping, DNA methylation detection, and gene expression profiling. This chapter describes the concept of the BeadArray technology, two different Array of Arrays formats, the assay scheme and protocol, the performance of the system, and its use in large-scale genetic, epigenetic, and expression studies.