Patent ID: 7229765

Claim:
A method for amplifying one or more single stranded nucleic acids, said method comprising: (a) producing double-stranded cDNA comprising contacting said one or more single stranded nucleic acids with: (i) a first set of oligonucleotides, each of said oligonucleotides in said first set comprising a promoter sequence operably linked to a random sequence at least 4 nucleotides in length from a set of random sequences of at least 4 nucleotides, (ii) a second set of oligonucleotides, each of said oligonucleotides in said second set comprising a random sequence of at least 4 nucleotides in length from a set of random sequences of at least 4 nucleotides, and (iii) one or more enzymes that alone or in combination catalyze the synthesis of double-stranded cDNA, under conditions suitable for the production of double-stranded cDNA; and (b) contacting the double-stranded cDNA produced in step (a) with a RNA polymerase that recognizes said promoter sequence and ribonucleotides under conditions suitable to effect transcription, thereby producing sense or antisense RNA copies corresponding to said one or more single stranded nucleic acids.