MOLECULAR GENETICS

On the 6th of January at 11 AM an online event was held on the MassARRAY® – mass spectrometric analyzer (Agena Bioscience, the USA) and its capabilities for solving medical problems. The event was essential for students interested in MassARRAY®, how it works and operates. It was a great opportunity to learn more about its usage for cancer treatment, profiling in solid tumors and fluid biopsies, and how it examines hereditary genetic diseases, and pharmacogenetics, and solves problems in other areas. Users from Ukraine, Portugal, Austria, and the USA shared their experiences and had a chance to ask the speaker all the additional questions.

The mass-spectrometric analyzer MassARRAY® (Agena Bioscience, the USA) is designed for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions, and deletions (indels), translocations, analysis of gene copies, as well as for assessing the level of DNA methylation. The principle of the system’s work is based on matrix-activated laser desorption ionization and measurement of the time of the molecules’ flight in a vacuum chamber (MALDI-ToF). Direct analysis of the mass of DNA molecules excludes the need for fluorescence or other labeling. This technology makes it possible to conduct large-scale studies on the genotyping of somatic mutations quickly and accurately, to provide the determination of clinically significant gene polymorphism in hereditary diseases, as well as to carry out works on the selection and analysis of the genetic diversity of crops of plants and animals.