Patent ID: 7005262

Claim:
A method of identifying a nucleic acid that encodes human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTRT) or fragment thereof in a sample, comprising: a) combining the sample with a polynucleotide probe such that the probe hybridizes specifically to the nucleic acid if the nucleic acid encodes hTRT or fragment thereof: b) detecting any hybrid formed as a result of a); and c) identifying the nucleic acid as encoding hTRT or fragment thereof if the hybrid is detected; wherein the probe hybridizes specifically to a DNA having the sequence of the hTRT encoding region of SEQ. ID NO:224 at 5° C. to 25° C. below T m in aqueous solution at 1 M NaCl but does not hybridize to a DNA having the sequence of SEQ. ID NO:62 under the same reaction conditions; wherein T m is the melting temperature of double-stranded DNA having the sequence of said encoding region under the same reaction conditions.