Patent ID: 8877437

Claim:
A method of detecting the presence or absence of a nucleic acid in a sample, comprising: combining a sample comprising a nucleic acid with at least one fluorescent nucleic acid binding dye having the formula: wherein BRIDGE is a substantially neutral covalent linker comprising from about 1 to about 150 non-hydrogen atoms; Q 1 is a phenanthridinium dye, an acridinium dye or an asymmetric cyanine dye; Q 2 is a phenanthridinium dye, an acridinium dye or an asymmetric cyanine dye; loading said sample into a gel, wherein said gel comprising a gel buffer; immersing said gel in a running buffer; wherein said gel buffer or running buffer comprises at least one weak acid and a lithium salt of said at least one weak acid; electrophoresing said sample; and detecting fluorescence associated with the sample or a lack thereof.