Patent ID: 8877441

Claim:
A method of determining whether a target nucleic acid is present in a biological sample on a solid surface, comprising the steps of: a) contacting the sample on the solid surface with a dry fibrous matrix and laying the dry fibrous matrix on the surface, wherein labeled nucleic acid probes for detecting the target nucleic acid are embedded in or sorbed to the matrix, and wherein the labeled nucleic acid probes comprise nucleotide sequences that are substantially complementary to one or more different nucleotide sequences in the target nucleic acid; b) hydrating the matrix on the surface in an aqueous hydration solution after step a) thereby releasing the probes from the matrix; c) incubating the sample on the surface with the probes under stringent conditions sufficient to permit specific hybridization of the probes to the target nucleic acid if the target nucleic acid is present in the sample; d) washing the surface to remove the probes which are unhybridized and non-specifically hybridized; and e) determining whether the target nucleic acid is present in the sample by determining whether the labeled nucleic acid probes have hybridized to the target nucleic acid.