Patent ID: 7229799

Claim:
A method for genotyping or sequencing a single target nucleic acid molecule, said method comprising: i) immobilizing onto a solid support a target nucleic acid or a nucleic acid polymerase to form a solid support comprising more than one site or location each bearing only one single individual molecule of polymerase or target nucleic acid; ii) contacting the solid support with the target nucleic acid when the polymerase is immobilized or the polymerase when the target nucleic acid is immobilized, a primer nucleic acid which complements a region of the target nucleic acid, at least two types of fluorescently labeled nucleotide triphosphates (NTPs), wherein each type of NTP has a different fluorescently label on the γ-phosphate; and iii) determining the incorporation of a fluorescently labeled NTP into a single molecule of the primer stand, by detecting the fluorescently labeled γ-phosphate of the labeled NTP, which is then cleaved away from the fluorescently labeled NTP, thereby genotyping or sequencing said single target nucleic acid.