Multiplex Assays with Fluorescent Microbead Readout: A Powerful Tool, For Mutation Detection (Editorials‪)‬

After the completion of the Human Genome Project, the goal for biomedical research is to apply genomic approaches for the improvement of human health (1). The study of human DNA variation promises to have a great impact on understanding how genetic factors contribute to human disease, conferring susceptibility or resistance; it is also expected to help uncover the reasons that individuals respond differentially to therapeutics. Technologies for mutation detection can be classified into methods for the detection of unknown mutations and methods for the detection of known mutations (2). Methods for the detection of unknown mutations (3-8), also known as screening or scanning methods, are used during the discovery phase. Once a new mutation associated with a genetic disease has been characterized and validated, it is usually detected over and over in many DNA samples by specific, cost-efficient, and easy-to-use methods (9-13), also known as "diagnostic methods" (14).