Computer program product for quantitative analysis of a nucleic acid amplification reaction

摘要

A computer program product for determining a threshold value (e.g., a threshold cycle number or time value) in a nucleic acid amplification reaction tangibly embodies instructions readable by a machine to perform the steps of deriving a growth curve from measurements of a signal whose intensity is related to a quantity of nucleic acid sequence being amplified in the reaction, calculating a derivative of the growth curve, identifying a characteristic of the derivative, and determining a threshold value associated with the characteristic of the derivative. The method provides for highly reproducible threshold values that are independent of noise or background signal in the amplification reaction. Embodiments of a computer program product for determining a starting quantity of a nucleic acid sequence in a test sample are also provided.