| abstract |
Compositions and methods for sensitive detection of one or more analytes are disclosed. In general, the method uses a special labeling compound called a reporter signal, which may be associated with, contained in, or linked to an analyte. In some embodiments, the reporter signal can be altered so that the different reporter signal forms are distinguished from each other. In some embodiments, sets of reporter signals can be distinguished from each other. In some embodiments, two or more reporter signals in the set are one or more such that reporter signals with common properties are distinguished and / or separated from other molecules that do not have common properties. A set of reporter signals can be used if they have the above common characteristics. In other embodiments, two or more reporter signal / analyte conjugates in the set are distinguished and / or separated from other molecules in which the reporter / analyte conjugates having a common property do not have a common property. Reporter signal / analyte conjugates can be used if they have such common properties. The reporter signal can be conjugated to the analyte (such as a mixture of the reporter signal and the analyte), or the analyte is present, even if there is no significant physical association between the reporter signal and the analyte If not, it may be used alone. |