Why do some people with lung or breast cancer live for years after diagnosis and treatment, while others die after just months? A few years ago, researchers had only limited tools to study genetic activity of cancer cells and thereby understand why diseases affect people differently.

But in 1995, the invention of the gene microarray -- developed at Stanford by biochemistry professor Patrick Brown, MD, PhD -- revolutionized genomics research. Gene microarrays are glass slides carrying thousands of DNA "spots," each representing a different gene. The process yields a detailed snapshot of which genes are active inside the cell.

The technology enables researchers to better understand different types of cancer and other diseases. Such information can uncover better diagnostic tools, and ultimately lead to better treatments.

Much of the equipment in the Functional Genomics Facility, including this robotic machine that prints out the microarray data, was built from scratch. This do-it-yourself approach has helped keep costs down. The result? Scientific data that once cost researchers $500 to $1,000 now can cost as little as $95.

Trouble is, relatively few Stanford researchers have had access to the costly technology. The university's Brown-Botstein Joint Laboratory, co-directed by Pat Brown and genetics professor David Botstein, PhD, has produced gene microarrays for years, but only for themselves and a limited number of research collaborators. And while some large labs on campus have the resources to do microarrays themselves, that number is small, since the process can be laborious. The only other option is to buy gene microarrays from for-profit companies, but the cost can be out of reach -- $500 to $1,000 for each microarray carrying between 10,000 and 20,000 genes.

As a result, researchers whose work could have benefited from microarray technology have been forced to go without. But no longer.

Last August marked the opening of the Stanford Functional Genomics Facility, established in the School of Medicine to provide gene microarrays to Stanford researchers at the rock-bottom price of $95 for each microarray carrying 40,000 human genes (or 25,000 mouse genes for researchers studying mice). The office, which already has a one-month waiting list, is a big boost to the university's research community, said Michael Fero, PhD, the facility's director.

"The fact that we're now offering Stanford researchers an entire genome array, essentially at cost, is a pretty radical concept," he said. "No one else in the country is doing that." Since opening, the facility -- funded by the school along with grants from Stanford's Bio-X Program and the National Institutes of Health -- has provided more than 5,000 microarrays for departments as diverse as microbiology, surgery and pathology.

The facility is slated to move into a 1,500-sq. ft. space in the basement of the Center for Clinical Sciences Research later this year, but for now it resides in temporary space on the third floor of CCSR. The space is dominated by two custom-built robotic machines, each nearly the size of a compact car, that print the results of the microarrays: digital images with a black background and colored spots that show patterns of gene expression occurring within the cells.

"By figuring out which genes are expressed in the cells of, say, a tumor, we can get a better understanding of how the tumor developed and how it might behave," explained Jonathan Pollack, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology. Pollack relies on the microarrays to help determine how genetic activity inside prostate cancer cells differs from that of normal prostate cells. Based on his findings, he hopes to develop a more accurate diagnostic tool for prostate cancer.

Fero and the facility's six other staff members have taken a do-it-yourself approach to keep costs low. They built the equipment from scratch and they do most of the preparation work themselves, such as readying the DNA samples to be spotted, and treating the glass slides to make the DNA samples stick.

Researchers using the service also help keep costs down by pitching in with some prep work. The researchers then submit the microarray results to the facility to identify relevant genes. Fero said this upfront work isn't difficult and he offers free weekly workshops to teach researchers the necessary steps. "It's not magic," he said. "Anyone can do it." Still, there's something almost magical about microarrays and the insights they provide. "I think this is pretty gee-whiz stuff," he said.