Digital amplification
US6440706B1 · kind B1 · utility
635Cited by
8References
64Claims
0Family size
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Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 11, 2000 |
| Grant date | Aug 27, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 11, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC12Q2600/158
- WIPO fieldBiotechnology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The identification of pre-defined mutations expected to be present in a minor fraction of a cell population is important for a variety of basic research and clinical applications. The exponential, analog nature of the polymerase chain reaction is transformed into a linear, digital signal suitable for this purpose. Single molecules can be isolated by dilution and individually amplified; each product is then separately analyzed for the presence of mutations. The process provides a reliable and quantitative measure of the proportion of variant sequences within a DNA sample.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.