Patent ID: 7939300

Claim:
A method for quantifying a first specific mRNA comprising a particular sequence in a sample, comprising: a) spiking said sample with a known amount of a specific poly-A RNA less than 85% homologous to the first specific mRNA and forming a mixture comprising the first specific mRNA and the specific poly-A RNA, wherein the amount of the specific poly-A RNA does not significantly interfere with quantification of the first specific mRNA; b) purifying poly-A RNA that includes both the first specific mRNA and the specific poly-A RNA from the mixture; c) producing cDNA from the poly-A RNA purified from the mixture; d) quantifying the first specific mRNA and the specific poly-A RNA based on quantifying the cDNA in step c) and obtaining the amount of the first specific mRNA and the amount of the specific poly-A RNA in the poly-A RNA purified from the mixture; e) determining a percent recovery of the specific poly-A RNA by dividing the amount of the specific poly-A RNA in the poly-A RNA purified from the mixture by the known amount of the specific poly-A RNA in the mixture; and f) quantifying the amount of the first specific mRNA in the sample by dividing the amount of the first specific mRNA in the poly-A RNA purified from the mixture by the percent recovery of the specific poly-A RNA.