'''Synthetic Genetic Array analysis (SGA)''' is a [[high-throughput]] technique for exploring [[synthetic lethality|synthetic lethal]] and synthetic sick [[genetic interactions]] ([[Synthetic lethality|SSL]]) <ref> name="H. Tong 2001">A. H. Tong et al., Science 294, 2364 (2001)16.</ref>. SGA allows for the systematic construction of double mutants using a combination of [[Recombinant DNA|recombinant genetic techniques]], mating and selection steps. Using SGA methodology a query gene deletion mutant can be crossed to an entire genome deletion set to identify any [[synthetic lethality|SSL]] interactions, yielding functional information of the query gene and the genes it interacts with. A large-scale application of SGA in which ~130 query genes were crossed to the set of ~5000 viable deletion mutants in yeast revealed a genetic network containing ~1000 genes and ~4000 SSL interactions <ref> A. H. Tong et al., Global Mapping of the Yeast Genetic Interaction Network, Science 303, 808 (2004) </ref>. The results of this study showed that genes with similar function tend to interact with one another and genes with similar patterns of genetic interactions often encode products that tend to work in the same pathway or complex. Synthetic Genetic Array analysis was initially developed using the model organism ''[[S.cerevisiae]]''. Methodology has since been developed to allow SGA analysis in ''[[Schizosaccharomyces pombe|S.pombe]]'' <ref>Roguev, A., Wiren, M., Weissman, J. S. & Krogan, N. J. High-throughput genetic interaction mapping in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Nat Methods 4, 861-866 (2007) </ref><ref> S. J. Dixon et al., Significant conservation of synthetic lethal genetic interaction networks between distantly related eukaryotes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 105:16653-8. (2008)</ref> and ''E.coli'' <ref> Typas, A. et al. High-throughput, quantitative analyses of genetic interactions in E. coli. Nat Methods (2008). </ref>, <ref>Butland, G. et al. eSGA: E. coli synthetic genetic array analysis. Nat Methods (2008) </ref>.
Synthetic Genetic Array analysis was initially developed by Tong et al. <ref> A. name="H. Tong et al., Science 294, 2364 (2001)16.<"/ref> in 2001 and has since been used by many groups working in a wide range of biomedical fields. SGA utilizes the entire genome yeast knock-out set created by the yeast genome deletion project <ref> http://sequence-www.stanford.edu/group yeast_deletion_project/deletions3.html</ref>.
==Synthetic Genetic Array Analysis General Procedure==
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[[Image:Pinning robot.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Replicating yeast colonies during SGA analysis using a pinning robot]]
==[[Robotics]]==
Due to the large number of precise replication steps in SGA analysis, robots are widely used to perform the colony manipulations. There are a few systems specifically designed for SGA analysis which greatly decrease the time to analyse a query gene. Generally these have a series of pins which are used to transfer cells to and from plates, with one system utilizing disposable pads of pins to eliminate washing cycles.
