Patent ID: 7011940

Claim:
A method for performing a quality control for an assay performed on a microscope slide, wherein the assay is performed for the detection or quantification of a target molecule that is located in cells or tissue from a biological sample mounted on the microscope slide, comprising the steps of: (a) covalently attaching at least one cell-free quality control moiety to a transparent glass microscope slide wherein the cell-free quality control moiety comprises a target molecule mimic, wherein the quality control moiety reacts in substantially the same way as the target molecule in the biological sample in the assay; (b) mounting the sample on the microscope slide of a); (c) performing the assay on both the sample and the cell-free quality control moiety, both being present on the same slide, wherein performance of the assay results in a detectable reaction; and (d) determining that the cell-free quality control moiety produced a detectable reaction, wherein the detectable reaction provides a measure of the assay performance.