Questions: An adsorbent plate containing specific nucleic acid sequences from multiple types of pathogens, and that is used for hybridization reactions in infectious disease diagnosis, is called a(n)

An adsorbent plate containing specific nucleic acid sequences from multiple types of pathogens, and that is used for hybridization reactions in infectious disease diagnosis, is called a(n)

Transcript text: An adsorbent plate containing specific nucleic acid sequences from multiple types of pathogens, and that is used for hybridization reactions in infectious disease diagnosis, is called a(n) $\square$

Solution

Solution Steps

Step 1: Identify the key information

The question describes a diagnostic tool with specific characteristics:

It is an adsorbent plate.
It contains specific nucleic acid sequences from multiple pathogens.
It is used for hybridization reactions in infectious disease diagnosis.

Step 2: Recall relevant biological concepts

Nucleic acid hybridization is a technique used to detect specific DNA or RNA sequences by allowing them to bind to complementary probes. Microarrays are adsorbent plates (often glass or silicon) containing a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. Each spot contains a known DNA sequence (probe) that can hybridize with a specific target sequence. Microarrays are frequently used in infectious disease diagnosis to identify the presence of multiple pathogens simultaneously.

Step 3: Determine the answer

The description in the question perfectly matches the definition of a microarray.