Patent ID: 7476786

Claim:
A method comprising: a) obtaining a plurality of coded probes, each of the coded probes comprising a probe molecule attached to at least one nano-barcode, and at least two of the coded probes comprise two or more identifiably different nano-barcodes that can generate different detectable signals wherein the nano-barcode is selected from the group consisting of carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, submicrometer metallic barcodes, nanoparticles, quantum dots, combinations thereof, and the nano-barcodes made from nano-tag elements; b) contacting one or more target molecules in a sample with the coded probes wherein the coded probes comprise oligonucleotides and bind to different locations on the target molecules; c) ligating the coded probes that are adjacent one another on the target molecules to form ligated coded probes and aligning the ligated coded probes on a substrate surface by molecular combing using microfludic channels and forming organized coded probes wherein the ligated coded probes are aligned in the direction of microfluidic flow in the microfluidic channels; d) identifying the organized coded probes; and e) detecting the one or more target molecules based on the organized coded probes.