Method and device for collection and amplification of circulating nucleic acids

A method for processing whole blood at a point-of-collection to collect plasma or serum, the method comprising:

• filtering the whole blood to separate the plasma or serum at the point-of-collection;
• collecting the separated plasma or serum on to a dry solid matrix, wherein the dry solid matrix is devoid of any detergent;
• and
• drying the collected plasma or serum in the dry solid matrix.

A method for detection of circulating nucleic acids from a dried sample of plasma or serum, the method comprising:

• extracting the circulating nucleic acids from the dried sample of plasma or serum;
• performing a whole genome amplification of the extracted circulating nucleic acids to generate an amplified, circulating nucleic acid product;
• and
• detecting the presence, absence, or quantity of a specific circulating nucleic acid sequence in the amplified, circulating nucleic acid product.