Patent ID: 8900812

Claim:
A method for identifying a polymorphism of nucleic acid molecules comprising: (a) preparing a sample solution comprising a first nucleic acid probe, which specifically hybridizes with a single-stranded nucleic acid molecule including a first type of base sequence in a polymorphic sequence, and a target nucleic acid molecule; (b) forming a hybrid of the nucleic acid molecules in the sample solution prepared in (a); (c) calculating a number of molecules of the hybrid including the first nucleic acid probe in the sample solution prepared in (a) after carrying out (b); (d) identifying a polymorphism of the target nucleic acid molecule based on a result of (c); (e) moving a location of a photodetection region of an optics system in the sample solution in (c) using an optics system of a confocal microscope or a multiphoton microscope; (f) detecting fluorescence emitted from the hybrid in the photodetection region while moving the location of the photodetection region of the optics system in the sample solution in (c); (g) individually detecting the hybrid in (c) by individually detecting an optical signal from each hybrid among the detected fluorescent light; and (h) counting a number of particles detected during movement of the location of the photodetection region in (c) by counting the number of individually detected hybrid, wherein the sample solution in (a) or the sample solution after (b) and before (c) includes an oligonucleotide having a base sequence complementary to a base sequence different from the first type of base sequence in the polymorphic sequence.