Methods for rapid identification of pathogens in humans and animals
First Claim
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1. A method of identifying a plurality of etiologic agents of disease in an individual comprising the steps of:
- amplifying a plurality of nucleic acid molecules obtained from a biological sample from the individual with a plurality of intelligent primers to obtain a plurality of amplification products corresponding to the plurality of etiologic agents, wherein the intelligent primers are broad range survey primers, division-wide primers, drill-down primers, or any combination thereof;
determining the molecular masses of the plurality of amplification products;
calculating base composition signatures for the plurality of amplification products from said molecular masses; and
comparing said base composition signatures to a database of base composition signatures for known etiologic agents.
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Abstract
The present invention provides methods of: identifying pathogens in biological samples from humans and animals, resolving a plurality of etiologic agents present in samples obtained from humans and animals, determining detailed genetic information about such pathogens or etiologic agents, and rapid detection and identification of bioagents from environmental, clinical or other samples.
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19 Claims
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1. A method of identifying a plurality of etiologic agents of disease in an individual comprising the steps of:
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amplifying a plurality of nucleic acid molecules obtained from a biological sample from the individual with a plurality of intelligent primers to obtain a plurality of amplification products corresponding to the plurality of etiologic agents, wherein the intelligent primers are broad range survey primers, division-wide primers, drill-down primers, or any combination thereof; determining the molecular masses of the plurality of amplification products; calculating base composition signatures for the plurality of amplification products from said molecular masses; and comparing said base composition signatures to a database of base composition signatures for known etiologic agents. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of performing epidemic surveillance comprising the steps of:
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amplifying at least one nucleic acid molecule obtained from a plurality of biological samples obtained from a plurality of geographic locations with at least one pair of intelligent primers to obtain at least one amplification product; determining the molecular mass of the at least one amplification product; calculating a base composition signature for the at least one amplification product from said molecular mass; and comparing said base composition signature to a database of base composition signatures for known pathogenic agents to identify a pathogen in the biological sample, wherein identification of a pathogen in a sample from a particular geographic location indicates the spread of the pathogen to the particular geographic location. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification