AID develops reverse hybridization kits for molecular diagnostics.

All AID kits work with the same technique of reverse hybridization. With the DNA of a genomic DNA preparation from whole blood, a polymerase chain reaction is carried out. In this way, specific alleles are selectively amplified with biotin-marked primers. The characterization of the amplified gene segments is carried out in a hybridization reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotides (SSOP-PCR).

The amplified DNA is denatured and brought into contact with a nitrocellulose strip in the wells of an incubation tray. The allele specific gene probes (oligonucleotides) are bound on the nitrocellulose strip.

During hybridization, the denatured, amplified DNA binds to the gene probes on the strip. Highly specific washing procedures ensure that this bond only remains if the probe’s sequence is 100% complementary to the sequence of the amplified DNA.