Patent ID: 7001726

Claim:
A method of detecting a target molecule, comprising the steps of: i) contacting a sample with a locator probe comprising a binding moiety specific for the target molecule and an amplification nucleic acid sequence to produce a target molecule-locator probe complex; ii) producing an amplification structure bound to the complex by performing one or more times an amplification step of treating the sample and locator probe with: a) a single stranded amplification template comprising: i) arranged in a 5′ to 3′ direction: a) an extension nucleic acid sequence; b) a hybridisation nucleic acid sequence complementary to the amplification nucleic acid sequence having substantially the same sequence as the extension nucleic acid sequence; and c) an amplification moiety, being limited in all but the final repeat to a nucleic acid sequence; and ii) optionally comprising at least one signal moiety being other than a nucleic acid sequence; b) a polymerising agent which extends the 3′ terminus of the amplification nucleic acid sequence by synthesising a complementary strand to the extension nucleic acid sequence of the amplification template; c) a separating agent which removes sufficient of the extension nucleic acid sequence of the amplification template when hybridised to the complementary strand to allow subsequent hybridisation of the hybridisation nucleic acid sequence of the amplification template to the complementary strand; and d) the reagents and conditions necessary to effect the action of the polymerising agent and separating agent to allow the extension of the 3′ terminus of the amplification nucleic acid sequence by the synthesis of a plurality of sequences complementary to the extension nucleic acid sequence of the amplification template; iii) detecting any bound amplification template from the amplification step or steps; and iv) correlating the results of the detection step with the presence of the target molecule.