Do DNA microarrays have their future behind them?

The first report on DNA microarray technology appeared in Science in 1995. Starting from gene expression profiling, its application fields have considerably evolved and extend from microbiology to cancer study. DNA microarrays are now routinely used for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms, microRNAs analysis, study of copy number variation, CpG methylations detection…. Furthermore, the approval of DNA microarray technology by US Food and Drug Administration has opened the door to new applications in clinical diagnostics.At the same time, DNA arrays have to face the concurrence of the latest generation of very high throughput sequencing devices which are predicted to make the microarray technology obsolete.This review will discuss on this paradoxical situation.