Abstract: Nucleic acids can be made available for amplification or other treatment after admixture of a sample with specific weakly basic polymers to form a precipitate with the nucleic acids at acidic pH. After removing non-precipitated materials, the pH is then made basic, thereby releasing the nucleic acids from the polymer. This method for preparing specimen samples is simple and quite rapid, and the released nucleic acids can be further treated in hybridization assays or amplification procedures. No surfactant or other cell lysing reagents are employed. The weakly basic polymers are water-soluble and cationic at acidic pH, but neutral in charge at basic pH.

Abstract: Nucleic acids can be made available for amplification or other treatment after admixture of a sample with specific weakly basic polymers to form a precipitate with the nucleic acids at acidic pH. After removing non-precipitated materials, the pH is then made basic, thereby releasing the nucleic acids from the polymer. This method for preparing specimen samples is simple and quite rapid, and the released nucleic acids can be further treated in hybridization assays or amplification procedures. No surfactant or other cell lysing reagents are employed. The weakly basic polymers are water-soluble and cationic at acidic pH, but neutral in charge at basic pH.

Abstract: Nucleic acids can be amplified and detected using a very rapid polymerase chain reaction procedure. This procedure includes a series of steps which have critically defined temperature and time parameters. Each polymerase chain reaction cycle requires generally less than about two minutes, and in most cases less than 90 seconds. At least 5 units/100 &mgr;l of solution of thermostable DNA polymerase are used, and other preferred levels of primer concentrations facilitate the quick cycling in the amplification. In preferred embodiments, only two temperatures are used in the amplification.

Abstract: The present invention relates to nucleic acid primers and probes specific for organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and to their use in nucleic acid amplification methods for the detection and differentiation of such organisms in biological samples. The invention also relates to diagnostic kits for detecting and differentiating the various organisms comprising the MAC.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and device for detecting the presence of binding ligands, especially blood group antigens or antibodies thereto, which utilize a matrix of substantially noncompressable microparticles, which matrix provides superior performance in allowing movement of nonagglutinated reactants, especially red blood cells, while constraining, preferably in a so-called "band formation" agglutinated reactants, especially red blood cells.