Abstract: The present disclosure provides rapid, simple, robust and sensitive label and label-free assays for use in drug discovery, bioagent detection and medical diagnostics as well as means for reading such assays. The assays disclosed in the present disclosure use the formation, disruption and destruction of self-assembling fluorescent dye:biopolymer complexes to indicate the presence or absence of an analyte of interest. Such assays are suitable for high throughput screening and can achieve high sensitivity due to the enhanced fluorescence and changes of absorption spectra of certain dyes, particularly cyanine dyes, when they bind to specific biopolymers.

Abstract: The present invention relates generally to diagnostic assay systems and methods thereof that are capable of conducting and recording assays in a simple and reliable manner.