Appeal No. 2006-1547 Page 3
Application No. 10/114,668
Group III
29. A method of assaying a sample for the presence of one or more nucleic acid
analyte members of a nucleic acid analyte set, said method comprising:
(a) providing an array of at least two distinct DNA primers immobilized on a
surface of a solid support at distinct locations, wherein each of said at least two
distinct DNA primers hybridizes under stringent conditions to a different member
of said nucleic acid analyte set;
(b) contacting by pulsejet deposition each of said at least two distinct DNA
primers of said array with said sample and an effective amount of all of the
following DNA synthesis reagents: (i) dATP, (iii) [sic] dGTP; (iii) dTTP; (iv) dCTP;
(v) at least one type of Iabeled dNTP; (vi) a template dependent DNA
polymerase; (vii) a divalent cation; (viii) a buffering salt; and (ix) an RNAse
inhibitor
under DNA synthesis conditions sufficient to produce labeled target nucleic acids
at locations on said surface where a nucleic acid analyte present in said sample
hybridizes to a DNA primer to produce a duplex nucleic acid;
(c) detecting the presence of labeled target nucleic acids on said array surface to
obtain assay data; and
(d) employing said assay data to determine the presence of one or more nucleic
acid analytes in said sample.
Independent claims 1 and 29 require “an array of at least two distinct DNA primer
compositions immobilized on a surface of a solid support at distinct locations.” An
“array” is defined in the specification to mean “a substrate having a plurality of binding
agents stably attached to its surface, where the binding agents may be spatially located
across the surface of the substrate in any number of different patterns.” Specification,
page 3, ¶ 14. Various array formats are described, including arrays where the distinct
locations are separated by physical barriers. Id., ¶ 30, 33.
In the claimed invention, the array-binding agents are DNA primers. A primer is
a short sequence of nucleotides that is specific for a single mRNA molecule. Id., ¶ 31.
The primers are located at “distinct locations” on the solid support. As indicated in the
specification, the “distinct locations” are different regions on the surface of the array
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