Patent ID: 8329397

Claim:
A method comprising: a) providing a sample suspected of containing a nucleic acid of interest, wherein said nucleic acid of interest is covalently or non-covalently attached to a chemiluminescent molecule, wherein said chemiluminescent molecule is selected from the group consisting of blue light luciferases; b) contacting the sample with a nucleic acid molecule complementary to the nucleic acid of interest to form a nucleic acid duplex molecule; c) contacting the sample with an intercalating dye to generate a dye-bound nucleic acid duplex, wherein the intercalating dye is selected from the group consisting of 2-[N-bis-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-amino]-4-[2,3-dihydro-3-methyl-(benzo-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)-methylidene]-1-phenyl-quinolinium] and 2-[N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N-propylamino]-4-[2,3-dihydro-3-methyl-(benzo-1,3-thiazol-2-yl)-methylidene]-1-phenyl-quinolinium; d) activating said chemiluminescent molecule to produce light, wherein the light excites the dye bound nucleic acid duplex, wherein said activating is initiated by adding a chemiluminescent substrate to the sample, and whereby no light source other than the chemiluminescent molecule is used; and e) detecting the light emitted by the excited dye bound nucleic acid duplex, whereby a nucleic acid of interest is detected.