(i9) United States
(12) Patent Application Publication
Ecker et al.
(54) METHOD FOR RAPID DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF BIOAGENTS
(76) Inventors: David J. Ecker, Encinitas, CA (US);
Richard Griffey, Vista, CA (US);
Rangarajan Sampath, San Diego, CA
(US); Steven Hofstadler, Vista, CA
(US); John McNeil, La Jolla, CA (US)
Correspondence Address:
MEDLEN & CARROLL LLP
101 HOWARD STREET
SUITE 350
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 (US)
(21) Appl. No.: 11/331,978
(22) Filed: Jan. 13, 2006
Related U.S. Application Data
(60) Continuation of application No. 10/156,608, filed on May 24, 2002, now Pat. No. 7,108,974, which is a
division of application No. 09/798,007, filed on Mar. 2, 2001, now abandoned.
Publication Classification
(51) Int. CI.
C12Q 1/68 (2006.01)
C12P 19/34 (2006.01)
(52) U.S. CI 435/6; 435/91.2
(57) ABSTRACT
Method for detecting and identifying unknown bioagents, including bacteria, viruses and the like, by a combination of nucleic acid amplification and molecular weight determination using primers which hybridize to conserved sequence regions of nucleic acids derived from a bioagent and which bracket variable sequence regions that uniquely identify the bioagent. The result is a "base composition signature" (BCS) which is then matched against a database of base composition signatures, by which the bioagent is identified.
