CLINICAL ASSAY FOR NUCLEIC ACIDS AMPLIFIED IN SOLID MATRICES TO PRODUCE COLONIES OF THE PROGENY OF INDIVIDUAL TARGET MOLECULES

摘要

A quantitative multiplex assay for at least two nucleic acid targets, on of which is rare and another of which is present at much higher level, comprising adding reagents for amplification of the targets by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to a thin polyacrylamide gel matrix that has been washed and dried, distributing a sample containing the targets across the surface of the gel sufficiently to separate rare target molecules but not molecules of the abundant target, cycling the gel through a PCR protocol to amplify the target, and counting the number of individual colonies of the rare target.