Patent ID: 7897337
Filing Date: 2011-03-01
Classification: B01L,C12Q,G01N,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for processing the contents of multiple reaction receptacles to quantitatively determine the amount of a first target nucleic acid present in a first portion of the reaction receptacles and to qualitatively determine the presence or absence of a second target nucleic acid present in a second portion of the reaction receptacles, said method comprising performing in an analyzer the automated steps of: a) successively providing a plurality of reaction receptacles to a first incubator having a housing defining a temperature-controlled chamber, said housing including one or more closable receptacle access openings for moving the reaction receptacles into and out of said first incubator, each of the reaction receptacles being provided with amplification reagents sufficient to amplify a first or second target sequence contained within a corresponding first or second target nucleic acid under the temperature conditions of said first incubator, wherein successively providing the plurality of reaction receptacles to said first incubator comprises, for each of the reaction receptacles provided, opening one of said receptacle access openings and moving the reaction receptacle through the opened receptacle access opening and into said first incubator and then closing the receptacle access opening, thereby permitting ambient light from within the analyzer to enter the temperature-controlled chamber of the first incubator through the opened receptacle access opening; b) while performing step a), c) using a microprocessor to quantify the amount of said first target nucleic acid present in each reaction receptacle of the first portion of the reaction receptacles based upon the measurements obtained in step b); d) while performing steps a) and b), e) using a microprocessor to determine the presence or absence of said second target nucleic acid in each reaction receptacle of the second portion of said reaction receptacles based upon the signals detected in step d), wherein said microprocessor is not used to quantify the amount of said second target nucleic acid present in the reaction receptacles of the second portion of said reaction receptacles based upon the signals detected in step d).