| abstract |
The invention provides a universal method to detect the presence of chromosomal abnormalities by using paralogous genes as internal controls in an amplification reaction. The method is rapid, high throughput, and amenable to semi-automated or fully automated analyses. In one aspect, the method comprises providing a pair of primers which can specifically hybridize to each of a set of paralogous genes under conditions used in amplification reactions, such as PCR. Paralogous genes are preferably on different chromosomes but may also be on the same chromosome (e.g., to detect loss or gain of different chromosome arms). By comparing the amount of amplified products generated, the relative dose of each gene can be determined and correlated with the relative dose of each chromosomal region and/or each chromosome, on which the gene is located. |