Patent ID: 8546110

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of a nucleic acid in a sample, the method comprising performing in an analyzer the automated steps of: (a) combining, in a receptacle, a sample containing a nucleic acid and a solid support comprising a magnetically-responsive particle, the solid support forming a complex with the nucleic acid, wherein the complex is suspended in a fluid component of the sample, the receptacle being part of a unit comprising a plurality of integrally formed receptacles, and the unit holding a removable contamination-limiting element configured to permit passage of the fluid component of the sample therethrough; (b) subjecting the contents of the receptacle to a magnetic field, thereby isolating the nucleic acid within the receptacle; (c) mounting the contamination-limiting element onto a fluid aspirator; (d) purifying the nucleic acid isolated in step (b) by contacting the fluid component of the sample with the contamination-limiting element and aspirating at least a portion of the fluid component with the fluid aspirator while the complex remains subjected to the magnetic field; (e) forming a reaction mixture comprising the purified nucleic acid of step (d) and all reagents required to perform a nucleic acid amplification; (f) performing a nucleic acid amplification with the reaction mixture formed in step (e), the nucleic acid amplification resulting in the enzymatic synthesis of amplification products, each of the amplification products comprising (i) a target sequence contained in the nucleic acid or (ii) the complement of the target sequence; (g) selectively hybridizing a probe having a label to the target sequence or its complement of an amplification product that is one of the amplification products synthesized in step (f), thereby forming a hybrid in a mixture that comprises the probe and the amplification product; and (h) in the mixture, detecting the formation of the hybrid, wherein the formation of the hybrid in the mixture is an indication of the presence of the nucleic acid in the sample.