Oligonucleotide probes for genosensor chips

摘要

Software for designing optimized sets of oligonucleotide probes for use in genosensors (oligonucleotide microarrays) is disclosed. The selection of probe sequences is based on multiple criteria including thermal stability of the probe-target pairs, similarity degree of the probes with respect to other DNA sequences, and evaluation of the secondary structure of target molecules. The programs were written in the programming language Borland Delphi by means of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques. The Genosensor Probe Design computer program disclosed herein facilitates the design of optimized arrays of probes which accurately represents the characteristics of the nucleic acid molecule under study, such as its identity or its differences in sequence or abundance with respect to other molecules.