Patent ID: 7601497

Claim:
A method of detecting at least one target nucleic acid comprising: a) forming a plurality of enriched target nucleic acids comprising i) mixing the at least one target nucleic acid with a nucleic acid probe complementary to at least a portion of the at least one target nucleic acid to form a target DNA:RNA hybrid, wherein when the target nucleic acid is RNA, the probe is DNA, and wherein when the target nucleic acid is DNA, the probe is RNA; ii) capturing the target DNA:RNA hybrid onto a solid support; and iii) removing any nucleic acid that does not form the target DNA:RNA hybrid or that is not captured onto the solid support to form the plurality of enriched target nucleic acids; b) amplifying the plurality of enriched target nucleic acids from step a) to form a plurality of amplified targets; and c) detecting the at least one target nucleic acid in the plurality of amplified targets by i) mixing the plurality of amplified targets with a selectable oligonucleotide and a nucleic acid probe, wherein the selectable oligonucleotide hybridizes to a first portion of the amplified targets and wherein the nucleic acid probe is complementary to a second portion of the amplified targets wherein if the amplified target is DNA, the selectable oligonucleotide and the nucleic acid probe is RNA and if the amplified target is RNA, the selectable oligonucleotide and the nucleic acid probe is DNA to form a DNA:RNA hybrid target/oligonucleotide/probe complex, wherein the first portion of the amplified targets and the second portion of the amplified targets are different; and ii) detecting the DNA:RNA hybrid target/oligonucleotide/probe complex by a DNA:RNA hybrid-specific binding agent, to detect at least one target nucleic acid.