DNA-arrays (or DNA-chips or microarrays) are flat slabs of glass, silicon or plastic onto which thousands of multiple short single-stranded (ss) DNA sequences (corresponding to small regions of a genome) have been attached. After performing a mRNA extraction in induced and non-induced cells, the mRNA is again reverse transcribed, but here the reaction is tweaked, so that the emerging cDNA contains nucleotides marked with different fluorophores for controls and experiment. Targets will hybridize by base-pairing with those probes that resemble them the most. The array can then be stimulated by a laser and scanned for fluorescence at two different wavelengths (control and induced). The ratio or log-ratio between the two fluorescence intensities corresponds to the induction level.

Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS) is based on detecting changes in surface-reflected light due o the binding of ligands to biomolecules attached to the surface of a semi-transparent substrate. Differences in the optical path lengths between a surface layer and a buried silica layers can be measured very precisely, which allows optical height information to be converted to accumulated mass (density) on the surface. For the purpose of TF-binding site identification, IRIS is coupled with DNA-array technology. DNA arrays with immobilized potential binding regions are exposed to the protein of interest, which is then eluted. Protein-bound fragments exhibit changes in reflectance that can be used to gauge binding quantitatively.

Once the binding motif for a TF is known, this motif (which essentially defines a pattern) can be used to scan sequences in order to search for putative TF-binding site. This is useful, for instance, when trying to identify TF-binding site in ChIP-chip data. Searching for TF-binding site can be done in numerous ways. The most basic method is consensus search, in sequences are scored according to how many mismatches they have with the consensus sequence for the motif. A more elaborate way of searching involves using regular expressions, which allow to search for more loosely defined motifs [e.g. C(C/G)AT]. Common algorithms for this type of search include Pattern Locator and the DNA Pattern Find method of the SMS2 suite, but also some word processors. Finally, the mainstream way of conducting TF-binding site search is through the use of position-specific scoring matrices, which basically count the occurrences of each base at each position of the motif and use the inferred frequencies to score candidate sites. Algorithms in this last category include TFSEARCH, FITOM, CONSITE, TESS and MatInspector.

Quantitative Reverse-Transcription PCR is a modification of PCR in which RNA is first reverse transcribed into cDNA and this is amplified measuring the product (qPCR) in real time. It therefore allows one to analyze transcription by directly measuring the product (RNA) of a gene's transcription. If the gene is transcribed more, the starting product for PCR is larger and the corresponding volume of amplification is also larger.