Abstract: Nucleic acid recovery apparatus is provided that comprises a lysis vial and a collection vial, each vial having a rim surrounding an opening through which fluid can enter the vial, the apparatus comprising connection means for removably connecting the vials together to form a sealed vessel, the sealed vessel being for placing in a centrifuge. A swab is located in the vessel, with a fluid absorbing element of the swab held in the lysis vial. The vessel is placed in a centrifuge with the lysis vial uppermost and is centrifuged such that the lysis vial takes an inner path and the collection vial takes an outer path such that fluid collects in the collection vial away from the fluid absorbing element.

Abstract: The present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule having a variation of the IL-13 encoding sequence shown in FIG. (1) wherein the variation is at least one of G to C at position +543nt and/or C to T at position +1922nt and/or G to A at position +2043nt and/or C to A at position +2579nt upstream of the initiation codon. The invention further provides an isolated amino acid sequence encoding a variant IL-13 containing glutamine at amino acid position 130, and the use of said amino acid sequence in a method of producing an antibody. Additionally, there is provided a method of detecting susceptibility or resistance to a disorder associated with an immune response comprising testing nucleic acid from an individual for the presence of a variation in the nucleotide sequence encoding IL 13.