Abstract: The present invention pertains to a method and compositions for detecting the presence of a target nucleic acid in a test sample in which the sample to be tested for the presence of the target nucleic acid is introduced into a solution containing the probe-tether complex under conditions suitable for hybridization to occur between the first probe nucleic acid sequence and the target nucleic acid sequence so that the second tether nucleic acid sequence is displaced from the probe-tether complex, and a new complex is formed by the hybridization of the first probe nucleic acid sequence and the target nucleic acid sequence