Compositions and methods for the detection of nucleic acids

A method of activating a nucleic acid probe, said method comprising:

• (a) providing a mixture in a clinical sample comprising:
• a target nucleic acid,
• a nucleic acid probe comprising a first region, a second region, a third region, and a fourth, wherein said first region and said second region form a nucleic acid sequence complementary to at least a portion of said target nucleic acid,
• an enzyme capable of selectively digesting double-stranded nucleic acids;
• and
• a lysis buffer,
• (b) incubating said mixture under conditions to hybridize said first region and said second region to said target nucleic acid, thereby forming a nucleic acid probe-target nucleic acid complex comprising a double-stranded nucleic acid region, and to digest at least a portion of said double-stranded nucleic acid region with said enzyme, thereby releasing an end region comprising said third region and said fourth region, thereby activating said nucleic acid probe.

A method of activating a nucleic acid probe, said method comprising:

• (a) providing a mixture in a clinical sample comprising:
• a target nucleic acid,
• a nucleic acid probe comprising a first region, a second region, and a third region, wherein said second region comprises a nucleic acid sequence complementary to at least a portion of said target nucleic acid,
• an enzyme capable of selectively digesting double-stranded nucleic acids, and
• a lysis buffer;
• (b) incubating said mixture under conditions to hybridize said second region to said target nucleic acid, thereby forming a nucleic acid probe-target nucleic acid complex comprising a double-stranded nucleic acid region, and to digest said double-stranded nucleic acid region with said enzyme, thereby releasing said first region and said third region,
• thereby activating said nucleic acid probe.