Abstract: A novel polymeric nucleic acid probe improves detection sensitivity and specificity in a variety of hybridization platforms. The probe is made up of multiple short nucleic acid sequences (referred to as monomers) attached together to form a long polymeric probe for use in hybridization applications. For applications requiring immobilization of the probes to a surface, the polymeric probes are similar to long DNA probes in that they can be immobilized to a variety of surfaces without need for a chemical modification to the end of the probe. Because target nucleic acids hybridize to the relatively short monomers in the polymeric probe, the polymeric probes are more specific than long DNA probes. In addition, polymeric probes also improve the signal-to-background ratio by increasing the number of accessible monomer oligonucleotide probes immobilized per unit area on a surface.