芯片技术的发展使得我们对不同发育阶段的基因表达情况可以作出分析与判断。海鞘类动物是传统发育学上研究发育阶段的对象。如果我们把芯片技术应用到对海鞘类动物发育过程中遗传、代谢网络的研究上来，是不是会得到有趣的结果呢？
Molecular analysis of development has traditionally involved studies of one or a few genes at a time. This approach has revealed powerful regulatory genes, which have become the foundation for understanding pattern formation during metazoan development. But with one notable exception [1], the detailed genetic networks in which developmental genes function have remained elusive. Researchers working on the development of several model organisms are now breaking the single-gene tradition by using expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis to identify random cDNA clones from libraries derived from different stages and tissue types, and high-throughput in situ hybridization to categorize the corresponding mRNAs by their expression domains. In concert with antisense-mediated inhibition of gene expression and other molecular tools of developmental biology, EST analysis and other methods of gene-expression profiling can shed new light on the genetic circuitry underlying developmental processes. Here, I review recent gene expression-profile analysis in ascidians and the promise of this approach for studying developmental gene networks.
