Patent ID: 8105780

Claim:
A method of detecting a mutation in a target DNA comprising: obtaining a first measurement of a resonance parameter of a resonator sensor, said resonator sensor having a vibrating element, said vibrating element having a surface, and a probe DNA immobilized on said surface, said probe DNA hybridized with a target DNA; contacting the hybridized probe DNA and target DNA with a mismatch binding molecule in order to form a mismatch binding molecule/duplex DNA complex; obtaining a second measurement of the resonance parameter of the resonator sensor; comparing the first and second measurement of the resonance parameter to detect formation of the mismatch binding molecule/duplex DNA complex; determining if the mismatch binding molecule bound to the duplex DNA due to binding to a mismatch pairing or if the mismatch binding molecule bound to the duplex DNA due to nonspecific interactions with the duplex DNA backbone; and detecting the presence of a mutation in the target DNA when it is determined that the mismatch binding molecule bound to the duplex DNA due to binding to a mismatch pairing.