Zbigniew Lesnikowski and Agnieszka Olejniczak, researchers in the Institute of Medical Biology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, have been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,348, "Nucleoside derivative, modified oligonucleotide, method for their synthesis, and applications thereof."
Discloses compositions and methods of preparing carboranes and metallacarboranes, which can be used as a new type of electrochemically active label for biological compounds. Nucleic acid derivatives labeled with carborane or metallacarborane can be detected by electrochemical methods and can find several practical applications, such as materials for nanoconstruction, in DNA array technology, or for the construction of biosensors, especially electrochemical biosensors. Other applications can include use as modified primers in amplification of RNA and DNA, antisense drugs, boron carriers for BNCT, radiopharmaceuticals bearing a range of isotopes useful in different types of radiotherapy, molecular probes, elements of biosensors, materials for nanotechnology, and others.
Ibis Biosciences (Abbott) has been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,084, "Methods for rapid identification and quantitation of nucleic acid variants."
David Ecker, Steven Hofstadler, Thomas Hall, and Kristin Lowery are named as inventors on the patent.
The invention addresses a need for nucleic acid analysis that is both specific and rapid, and in which no nucleic acid sequencing is required, the patent's abstract states. The invention addresses this need by providing a method of nucleic acid amplification of overlapping sub-segments of a nucleic acid followed by measuring the molecular mass of resulting amplification products by mass spectrometry and determining the base compositions of the amplification products.
Gen-Probe has been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,066, "Detection of nucleic acids from multiple types of human papillomaviruses."
Sylvia Norman, Jennifer Bungo, William Hanna, and Heeraj Rao are named as inventors on the patent.
Discloses nucleic acid oligonucleotide sequences that include amplification oligomers and probe oligomers that are useful for detecting multiple types of human papillomaviruses associated with cervical cancer. The patent also discloses methods for detecting multiple HPV types in biological specimens by amplifying HPV nucleic acid sequences in vitro and detecting the amplified products.
Roche has been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,091, "DNA polymerases and related methods."
Keith Bauer and David Gelfand are named as inventors on the patent.
Discloses mutant DNA polymerases having improved extension rates relative to a corresponding, unmodified polymerase. The mutant polymerases are useful in a variety of disclosed primer extension methods. The patent also discloses related compositions, including recombinant nucleic acids, vectors, and host cells, which are useful, for example, for producing the mutant DNA polymerases.
Roche has also been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,068, "Use of silica material in an amplification reaction."
Judith Pinsl-Ober, Peter Wenzig, Ralf Schoenbrunner, Patrick O'Donnell, Erich Kyger, Khushbeer Malhotra, Kurt Weindel, and Knut Bartl are named as inventors on the patent.
Relates to a method for isolating target nucleic acid using a material with an unmodified silica surface and subsequently amplifying the target nucleic acid in the presence of the material. The method is preferably carried out as an automated process in a high-throughput format, and is preferably used in diagnostics, the patent's abstract states.
Roche has also been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,058, "PCR hot start by magnesium sequestration."
Waltraud Ankenbauer, Dieter Heindl, and Frank Laue are named as inventors on the patent.
Describes a synthetic peptide having a length of not more than 30 amino acids comprising a divalent cation-binding site. Such a peptide is part of a composition for nucleic acid amplification and provides for a so-called hot start effect, according to the patent's abstract.
Medical Diagnostic Laboratories has been awarded US Patent No. 8,026,056, "Compositions and methods for detecting Borrelia afzelii."
Melanie Feola, Martin Adelson, Eli Mordechai, and Lisa Novak are named as inventors on the patent.
Discloses oligonucleotides useful in methods for determining whether a sample contains Borrelia afzelii, a spirochete that causes Lyme disease in humans. These oligonucleotides have nucleotide sequences derived from a coding segment of the gene encoding the p24 gene for the outer surface protein of Borrelia afzelii, and are useful as forward and reverse primers for PCR using nucleic acids from a biological sample as templates; and as probes for detecting any resultant amplicon. Detection of an amplicon indicates the sample contains Borrelia afzelii. The patent also discloses real-time PCR and detection using florescence resonance energy transfer.