Patent ID: RE39007

Claim:
A method for amplifying a specific nucleic acid target sequence preferentially over non-target sequences, compris- ing the steps of: contacting a nucleic acid strand containing said target sequence with a nucleic acid polymerase lacking 5′ exonuclease activity, at least one nucleotide triphos- phate selected from adenosine, thymidine, guanosine and cytidine triphosphate, and at least three different complementary primers under primer extension condi- tions at essentially constant temperature, wherein each said primer contains a nucleotide base sequence which is designed to be complementary to a nucleic acid sequence on said nucleic acid strand located 3′ to said target sequence, and wherein said nucleotide base sequence of each said primer is able to hybridize to a nucleic acid sequence on said nucleic acid strand under said conditions; and amplifying said target sequence , wherein said amplifying step is performed in the absence of a complementary or sense primer containing a promoter site for an RNA polymerase .