Digital counting of individual molecules by stochastic attachment of diverse labels
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- obtaining a plurality of first molecules and a plurality of second molecules,wherein each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules is generated by associating by a random manner each of occurrences of a first target molecule and occurrences of a second target molecule, respectively, with a label from a set of diverse labels,wherein the set of diverse labels comprises labels with m different label sequences,wherein each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality second molecules comprises a copy of the first target molecule and a copy of the second target molecule, respectively, and a label sequence,wherein more than 90% of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules have a label sequence that is different from the label sequences on the other of the plurality of first molecules and the other of the plurality of second molecules, respectively,wherein n1 and n2 are a number of occurrences of the first target molecule and a number of occurrences the second target molecule, respectively, andwherein the ratio of the greater of n1 and n2 to m is smaller than 0.2; and
detecting each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules by detecting the label sequence present on each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules, respectively,wherein the detected first molecules and the detected second molecules indicate the number of occurrences of the first target molecule and the number of occurrences of the second target molecule, respectively.
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Abstract
Compositions, methods and kits are disclosed for high-sensitivity single molecule digital counting by the stochastic labeling of a collection of identical molecules by attachment of a diverse set of labels. Each copy of a molecule randomly chooses from a non-depleting reservoir of diverse labels. Detection may be by a variety of methods including hybridization based or sequencing. Molecules that would otherwise be identical in information content can be labeled to create a separately detectable product that is unique or approximately unique in a collection. This stochastic transformation relaxes the problem of counting molecules from one of locating and identifying identical molecules to a series of binary digital questions detecting whether preprogrammed labels are present. The methods may be used, for example, to estimate the number of separate molecules of a given type or types within a sample.
375 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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obtaining a plurality of first molecules and a plurality of second molecules, wherein each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules is generated by associating by a random manner each of occurrences of a first target molecule and occurrences of a second target molecule, respectively, with a label from a set of diverse labels, wherein the set of diverse labels comprises labels with m different label sequences, wherein each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality second molecules comprises a copy of the first target molecule and a copy of the second target molecule, respectively, and a label sequence, wherein more than 90% of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules have a label sequence that is different from the label sequences on the other of the plurality of first molecules and the other of the plurality of second molecules, respectively, wherein n1 and n2 are a number of occurrences of the first target molecule and a number of occurrences the second target molecule, respectively, and wherein the ratio of the greater of n1 and n2 to m is smaller than 0.2; and detecting each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules by detecting the label sequence present on each of the plurality of first molecules and the plurality of second molecules, respectively, wherein the detected first molecules and the detected second molecules indicate the number of occurrences of the first target molecule and the number of occurrences of the second target molecule, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification