Patent ID: 7368246
Filing Date: 2008-05-06
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
1. A method of determining the level of a target nucleic acid in a nucleic acid sample, the method comprising: a) for a given target nucleic acid, selecting a pair of first and second amplification primers that will generate a target amplicon of a first known length when said target nucleic acid is subjected to amplification using said pair of primers; b) providing at least two nucleic acid competitor molecules: c) combining a test nucleic acid sample with said first and second nucleic acid competitor molecules, wherein the respective competitors are added at first and second known concentrations, said concentrations being different by at least one order of magnitude; d) performing reverse-transcription and target sequence amplification on the combined nucleic acid sample of step (c) using said pair of first and second amplification primers; e) separating the products of amplification step (d); and f) detecting the amounts of the target amplicon of said first known length, the competitor amplicon of said second known length and the competitor amplicon of said third known length, wherein when the amount of one said competitor amplicon is greater than the amount of said target amplicon and the amount of the other said competitor amplicon is less than the amount of said target amplicon, the concentration of said target nucleic acid in said sample is determined.