This paper deals with the development of different formats of screen-printed array of electrodes. The arrays consist of a silver pseudo-reference electrode surrounded by four or eight radially distributed working electrodes. Two different commercially available inks were used to fabricate the working electrode (WE) surfaces: a carbon-based ink and a gold-based ink. Due to their low curing temperature, the inks were screen-printed onto an inert plastic substrate. The electrochemical characterisation of these arrays is shown; reproducibility of the arrays as well as the batch-to-batch reproducibility were also assessed. As model case, the four WE array was used as platform to develop an electrochemical genosensor. Analytical parameters such as linearity range, reproducibility and detection limit of the genosensor were evaluated. Preliminary results on real samples were also reported. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.