Abstract: The present invention describes a flexible basestacking monomer that can be incorporated into an oligonucleotide or oligonucleotide analogue, as well as triplex forming oligonucleotides comprising the flexible basestacking monomer. Triplex forming oligonucleotides of the invention are capable of binding sequence specifically to doublestranded target nucleic acids and are therefore of interest for modulation of the activity of target nucleic acids and also detection of target nucleic acids.

Abstract: Knowledge about telomere length is highly relevant in cancer and age related research. Currently applied methods for determining telomere length are subject to several drawbacks preventing fast and reliable information concerning telomere length. The present invention relates to a method for determining telomere length which is fast and reliable. The method is PCR based and may advantageously be performed in a “one tube system”, whereby time consuming and inconvenient handling steps are avoided. The method comprises annealing of up- and downstream tags to telomere fragments and subsequent PCR amplification of telomere fragments using primers having a sequence complementary or identical to at least part of the up- and downstream oligonucleotide tags.