Patent ID: 7847076

Claim:
An oligonucleotide probe comprising: an oligonucleotide capable of hybridizing to a target polynucleotide sequence; a fluorescer molecule attached to a first end of the oligonucleotide; a quencher molecule attached to a second end of the oligonucleotide such that the quencher molecule substantially quenches the fluorescence of the fluorescer molecule whenever the oligonucleotide probe is in a single-stranded state and such that the fluorescer is substantially unquenched whenever the oligonucleotide probe is in a double-stranded state; a 5′ end which is rendered impervious to digestion by the 5′→3′ exonuclease activity of a polymerase; and a 3′ end which is rendered impervious to the 5′→3′ extension activity of a polymerase.