Patent ID: 7385043

Claim:
A highly multiplexed homogeneous in vitro assay to screen a sample for the presence of any of a minimum of six different nucleic acid targets comprising a) contacting the sample with a set of at least six fluorescent hybridization probes, each one specific for a different one of said nucleic acid targets, wherein i) each probe in said set is subdivided into the same number of portions, said number being in the range of from two to four, ii) each portion of each subdivided probe is labeled with a different emitter fluorophore from a panel of at least four spectrally differentiable fluorophores, iii) each probe in said set has a unique color signal pattern, and iv) hybridization of each probe leads to a detectable fluorescence signal change indicative of the color pattern of the labeling of its portions; b) stimulating the fluorophores present in the sample; and c) detecting changes in emissions signals from said fluorophores without spatially segregating the nucleic acid targets from one another to detect the color pattern of one of said probes so as to identify which target is present.