Secondary structure defining database and methods for determining identity and geographic origin of an unknown bioagent for environmental testing thereby
First Claim
1. A method of identifying an unknown bioagent in an environmental sample using a database of molecular masses of known bioagents comprising:
- contacting nucleic acid from said bioagent in said environmental sample with at least one pair of oligonucleotide primers that hybridize to sequences of said nucleic acid, wherein said sequences flank a variable nucleic acid sequence of said bioagent in said environmental sample;
producing an amplification product of said variable nucleic acid sequence;
determining a first molecular mass of said amplification product; and
comparing said first molecular mass to the molecular masses of known bioagents, thereby identifying the unknown bioagent in said environmental sample.
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Abstract
The present invention relates generally to the field of investigational bioinformatics and more particularly to secondary structure defining databases. The present invention further relates to methods for interrogating a database as a source of molecular masses of known bioagents for comparing against the molecular mass of an unknown or selected bioagent to determine either the identity of the selected bioagent, and/or to determine the origin of the selected bioagent. The identification of the bioagent is important for determining a proper course of treatment and/or irradication of the bioagent in such cases as biological warfare. Furthermore, the determination of the geographic origin of a selected bioagent will facilitate the identification of potential criminal identity.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method of identifying an unknown bioagent in an environmental sample using a database of molecular masses of known bioagents comprising:
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contacting nucleic acid from said bioagent in said environmental sample with at least one pair of oligonucleotide primers that hybridize to sequences of said nucleic acid, wherein said sequences flank a variable nucleic acid sequence of said bioagent in said environmental sample;
producing an amplification product of said variable nucleic acid sequence;
determining a first molecular mass of said amplification product; and
comparing said first molecular mass to the molecular masses of known bioagents, thereby identifying the unknown bioagent in said environmental sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A database having cell-data positional significance comprising at least a first table of a plurality of data-containing cells, said first table organized into at least a first row and a second row, each row having columns and data-containing cells;
- and wherein said data-containing cells have an alignment with at least one other row for differentiating aligned from non-aligned data-containing cells, and wherein said differentiation in alignment of said data-containing cells designates a structural feature of a polymer present in an environmental sample.
- View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A service providing information related to a bioagent in an environmental sample comprising:
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providing a dimensional master database for storing a molecular mass, an identity and a detail corresponding to a plurality of known bioagents and, said master database storing the molecular mass, the identity and the detail for a plurality of known bioagents;
interrogating the master database with an identification request of an unknown bioagent in said environmental sample to generate a response; and
delivering said response from the master database to a requester. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of determining a geographical origin of a selected bioagent in an environmental sample using a database of molecular masses of known bioagents comprising:
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contacting nucleic acid from said selected bioagent in said environmental sample with at least one pair of oligonucleotide primers which hybridize to sequences of said nucleic acid, wherein said sequences flank a variable nucleic acid sequence of the bioagent in said environmental sample;
producing an amplification product of said variable nucleic acid sequence;
determining a first molecular mass of said amplification product; and
comparing said first molecular mass to the molecular masses of known bioagents for determining a geographic origin of said selected bioagent, said comparison determining an identity and a geographic origin of said selected bioagent in said environmental sample. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification