Inventors:
AIGUO ZHANG - SAN RAMON CA, US
PAUL OKUNIEFF - GAINESVILLE FL, US
LURONG ZHANG - GAINESVILLE FL, US
LULU ZHANG - NEWARK CA, US
Assignee:
DIACARTA, LLC - FREMONT CA
International Classification:
C12Q 1/68
C12Q 1/70
Abstract:
The present invention provides methods and kits for determining the presence, absence, or level of an infectious agent in a sample. Specifically, the present invention provides methods and kits for detecting or quantifying certain target polynucleotides of the infectious agent. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides for such detection without the need for amplification (e.g., replication) of the target molecule and/or without the need for labor intensive purification procedures. In certain embodiments, the present invention provides positive control and housekeeping gene for normalization and quantatively detection of the copy numbers of infectious agent in a sample. In these or other embodiments, the invention allows for such detection with the desired sensitivity and/or specificity, even where the polynucleotide is present in the sample at low copy number.