Amersham International Plc

Christopher Robert Mundy

William Jonathan Cummins

Gerard Philip Brophy

A method of assaying for CAT in a fluid involves the use of a complex of chloramphenicol with a member of a specific binding pair such as a hapten or biotin. Biotinylated chloramphenicol is claimed as new. A scintillation proximity assay involves use of this reagent with tritiated acetyl coenzyme A and streptavidin coated SPA beads.

Cat assay

A method of detecting a mutation of a specific nucleotide base in a target nucleic acid chain comprises: (a) hybridizing a labelled probe to the target to form a hybrid in which one end of the probe is positioned adjacent the specific base; (b) adding a nucleotide derivative, e.g. a thionucleotide, under conditions to cause it to join to the end of the probe if it is complementary to the specific base; (c) digesting the hybrid using an exonuclease enzyme under conditions such that the nucleotide derivative protects the probe from digestion; and observing the presence or absence of label attached to the target. The method can be used to detect mutations even when these are not present at restriction enzyme cleavage sites, and does not require the preliminary steps of restriction digestion, gel electrophoresis and DNA (or RNA) blotting.

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Cambridge, United Kingdom

Christopher Robert Mundy