Patent ID: 7858301

Claim:
A method of selecting a set of oligonucleotide probe pairs for use in a hybridization assay to determine the sequences at particular sites in a target sequence, wherein one member of a particular pair has a different sequence than the other member and wherein one member (the “PM probe”) has a PM subsequence perfectly complementary to a normal, non-variant subsequence of the target sequence and the other member probe of that pair (the “MM probe”) differs in sequence at a number of nucleotide positions from said one member and has an MM subsequence complementary to a known variant of said subsequence, and wherein different probe pairs have members including PM and/or MM subsequences which are complementary to different subsequences of the same target, and wherein the selection method is designed to maximize discrimination (where discrimination is determined from the ratio of the intensity of the signals generated from labels attached to the probes, a greater intensity of a signal of particular member probes indicating more of said particular member probes being annealed to said target) between members of a particular probe pair, when said target is annealed to two or more of said different probe pairs, the method comprising: a) selecting a number of candidate probe pairs; b) adding a first probe pair from said number of candidate probe pairs to the set; c) adding additional probe pairs to the set if, for each successive probe pair to be added, said probe pair satisfies the inequality: K T PM K T MM <K O PM K O MM , where: K T PM is the affinity constant for the PM probe in the immediately-preceding-added probe pair binding to its designated target subsequence; K T MM is the affinity constant for the MM probe in the immediately-preceding-added probe pair binding to its designated target subsequence; K o PM is the affinity constant for the PM probe in the next successive probe pair binding to its designated target subsequence; and K O MM is the affinity constant for the MM probe in the next successive probe pair binding to its designated target subsequence; and d) using the set of probe pairs obtained from step (c) in a hybridization assay to determine which of said target subsequences are normal and which are variant.