Patent ID: 7625705

Claim:
A composition comprising: a labeled oligonucleotide pair, comprising: a first oligonucleotide and a second oligonucleotide, wherein said first oligonucleotide comprises a 5′ region and a 3′ region, wherein the 5′ region is complementary to a region of a target nucleic acid and the 3′ region is non-complementary to the target nucleic acid, and wherein a label is operatively coupled to said 3′ region; and wherein said second oligonucleotide is not the target nucleic acid, and wherein said second oligonucleotide is at least partially complementary to said first oligonucleotide, and forms a duplex with said 5′ region of said first oligonucleotide under non-denaturing conditions provided said first oligonucleotide is not hybridized to the target nucleic acid ; and said composition further comprising a 3′-5′ nuclease.