Patent ID: 6524829
Filing Date: 2003-02-25
Classification: C12Q,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for base sequencing of DNA or RNA comprising the following steps:(1) immobilizing DNA or RNA single strands on a planar surface; (2) focussing a laser beam on a single, immobilized single strand; (3) producing a DNA or RNA complementary strand of said immobilized, focussed single strand by adding a solution containing (i) a mixture of nucleotides of the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine for producing a DNA complementary strand or a mixture of nucleotides of the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine and uracil for producing a RNA complementary strand and (ii) a polymerase, wherein at least two of the four nucleotides of the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, or at least two of the four nucleotides of the bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, or uracil are partially or fully luminescence-tagged, said step (3) further comprising (a) detecting each insertion of a luminescence-tagged nucleotide into the complementary strand with a single-molecule detector, and (b) deleting the luminescence signal of the luminescence-tagged nucleotide after detection and prior to insertion of the respective next luminescence-tagged nucleotide, thereby base sequencing DNA or RNA.