15
Drawbacks of Conventional Technology
Target DNA binds non-specifically and yields background noise

Labeling procedure is inherently inefficient and 90% of target is lost in process

Uniform hybridization temperature used to decouple non-homologous targets from probes fails to account for variations in target-to-probe binding energies

Insensitive to subtle changes in gene expression (< 1.5-fold)

Requires large, expensive equipment and is arduous