Biochemical amplification of nucleic acids
First Claim
1. A method of cleaning an implement between handling a plurality of samples or a plurality of batches of samples of nucleic acid subject to a nucleic acid biochemical amplification process, whereinthe implement comprises a plurality of pins for picking nucleic acid samples, and whereinthe method comprises exposing the pins to illumination with radiation having an ultraviolet (UV) component between handling different samples or batches of the samples, wherein the exposure to the illumination is for a period of between about 4 and 30 seconds and is sufficient to suppress cross-contamination by non-specific amplification.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of cleaning a pin head or other implements between handling a plurality of samples of nucleic acid subject to an amplification process using a biochemical amplification product. The method comprises exposing the pin head or other implement to ultraviolet (UV) and preferably also infrared (IR) illumination between handling different samples in order to suppress cross-contamination by non-specific amplification. The biochemical amplification product may be obtained from a rolling circle amplification (RCA) procedure, such as that catalyzed by bacteriophage phi29, or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification product.
5 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of cleaning an implement between handling a plurality of samples or a plurality of batches of samples of nucleic acid subject to a nucleic acid biochemical amplification process, wherein
the implement comprises a plurality of pins for picking nucleic acid samples, and wherein the method comprises exposing the pins to illumination with radiation having an ultraviolet (UV) component between handling different samples or batches of the samples, wherein the exposure to the illumination is for a period of between about 4 and 30 seconds and is sufficient to suppress cross-contamination by non-specific amplification.
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15. A method of using an implement to handle a plurality of samples or a plurality of batches of samples of nucleic acid subject to a nucleic acid biochemical amplification process, wherein the implement comprises a plurality of pins for picking nucleic acid samples, and wherein the method comprises:
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(a) picking a first sample of nucleic acid with a pin of the implement, or a first batch of samples of nucleic acid with pins of the implement; (b) exposing the pins to illumination with radiation having an ultraviolet (UV) component for a period of between about 4 and 30 seconds; and (c) picking a second sample of nucleic acid with a pin of the implement, or a batch of samples of nucleic acid with pins of the implement.
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Specification