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IP Watch: Recent Patents Related to PCR, Nucleic Acid Amplification, and Sample Prep: Feb 8, 2011

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Bio-Rad and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique have been awarded US Patent No. 7,885,767, "Method, an installation, and a computer program for estimating the initial size of a population of nucleic acids, in particular by PCR."

Karine Piot, Pierre Martineau, Claire Lamoure, and Franck Molina are named as inventors on the patent.

Covers a method of estimating the size of an initial population of nucleic acids in a sample of interest, in particular by PCR. The method comprises the following steps: (a) providing a model of the effectiveness of the PCR, the model comprising a constant stage followed by a non-constant stage, the stages being united by a changeover region having a changeover index; (b) using the model of effectiveness to express a relationship between the changeover index and a parameter representative of the initial population size; and (c) determining the changeover index by comparison with the experimental measurements, and deducing therefrom the initial population size in the sample of interest.


Fujifilm has been awarded US Patent No. 7,884,201, "Method for separating and purifying RNA."

Hiroko Inomata and Tomoko Mori are named as inventors on the patent.

Discloses a method for separating and purifying RNA. The method includes the steps of passing a sample solution containing a nucleic acid, a washing solution, and a recovering solution through a nucleic acid-adsorbing porous membrane … capable of adsorbing a nucleic acid by interaction involving substantially no ionic bond. The sample solution is obtained by a process comprising the steps of (a) injecting a test sample containing at least one of blood and leukocytes, and further containing an anticoagulant, into a container; (b) adding a hemolytic agent to the container to obtain a leukocyte pellet; (c) adding a nucleic acid-solubilizing reagent to the leukocyte pellet to obtain a mixture solution; and (d) adding a water-soluble organic solvent to the mixture solution to obtain the sample solution containing the nucleic acid.


Life Technologies has been awarded US Patent No. 7,883,871, "Compositions and methods for reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction."

Jun Lee and Ayoub Rashtchian are named as inventors on the patent.

Covers compositions and methods useful for amplifying nucleic acid molecules by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Specifically, the invention provides compositions and methods for amplifying nucleic acid molecules in a simplified one- or two-step RT-PCR procedure using combinations of reverse transcriptase and thermostable DNA polymerase enzymes in conjunction with sulfur-containing molecules or acetate-containing molecules (or combinations thereof), and optionally bovine serum albumin. The invention thus facilitates the rapid and efficient amplification of nucleic acid molecules and the detection and quantitation of RNA molecules, the patent's abstract states. The invention is also useful in the rapid production and amplification of cDNAs, which may be used for a variety of industrial, medical, and forensic purposes.


Biomérieux has been awarded US Patent No. 7,883,870, "Molecular identification of Staphylococcus-genus bacteria."

Didier Raoult and Michel Drancourt are named as inventors on the patent.

Relates to a method of detecting, by means of molecular identification, a bacterium from one of the Staphylococcus-type species. The method uses the following: a fragment of the rpoB gene of said bacterium, comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from one of a series of sequences described in the patent, the reverse sequences, and the complementary sequences; or an oligonucleotide comprising a sequence having at least 12 consecutive nucleotide patterns included in one of the sequences described in the patent, in which N represents a nucleotide selected from inosine and an equimolar mixture of four different nucleotides selected from A, T, C, or G and from the oligonucleotides of the reverse sequences and complementary sequences.


Olink Bioscience has been awarded US Patent No. 7,883,849, "Method for amplifying specific nucleic acids in parallel."

Fredrik Dahl is the sole inventor listed on the patent.

Provides a method for amplifying a plurality of target sequences that minimizes amplification artifacts. A sample of interest is fragmented, with each fragment including a target sequence and having at least one defined end sequence. Selector constructs are then brought in contact with the fragments. All selector constructs comprise a primer pair motif; and each individual selector comprises one or two protruding ends complementary to the defined end sequences of the fragments containing the target sequences. After ligation, the selected target sequences are amplified in parallel using a primer pair specific for the primer-pair motif common to the selectors.