Patent ID: 6280930
Filing Date: 2001-08-28
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A method of inactivating a thermostable amplification enzyme in a method for amplifying and detecting a target nucleic acid in a closed reaction vessel comprising:a) contacting a sample suspected of containing said target nucleic acid with at least two oligonucleotides and a thermostable amplification enzyme, wherein said oligonucleotides are substantially complementary to a portion of said target nucleic acid, under conditions such that said target nucleic acid is amplifiable;b) amplifying said target nucleic acid;c) denaturing amplified target nucleic acids to form single stranded nucleic acids;d) after the denaturation step and prior to detection, inactivating the thermostable amplification enzyme by incubating said sample for between 2 minutes and 30 minutes at between 97.degree. C. and 120.degree. C.; ande) detecting the presence or absence of the amplified target nucleic acids, wherein the reaction vessel remains closed during steps (a) through (e), and wherein the inactivating step results in an increase in detection sensitivity over background as compared to the detection sensitivity without the inactivating step.