Method for rapid detection and identification of bioagents

A method of identifying an unknown bioagent comprising:

• contacting nucleic acid from said bioagent with at least one pair of oligonucleotide primers which hybridize to sequences of said nucleic acid, wherein said sequences flank a variable nucleic acid sequence;
• amplifying said variable nucleic acid sequence to produce an amplification product;
• determining the base composition of said amplification product;
• and
• comparing said base composition to one or more base compositions of amplification products obtained by performing steps (a)-(c) on a plurality of known organisms, wherein a match identifies said unknown bioagent.

A method for detecting a single nucleotide polymorphism in an individual, comprising the steps of:

• isolating nucleic acid from said individual;
• contacting said nucleic acid with oligonucleotide primers which hybridize to regions of said nucleic acid which flank a region comprising said potential polymorphism;
• amplifying said region to produce an amplification product;
• determining the molecular mass of said amplification product;
• comparing said molecular mass to the molecular mass of said region in an individual known to have said polymorphism, wherein if said molecular masses are the same then said individual has said polymorphism.