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Molecular Beacon:
Molecular beacons are oligonucleotide hybridization probes that can report the presence of
specific nucleic acids in homogenous solutions. The term more often used is molecular beacon
probes. Molecular beacons are hairpin shaped molecules with an
internally quenched fluorophore whose fluorescence is restored when they bind to a target
nucleic acid sequence. This is a novel non-radioactive method for detecting specific sequences
of nucleic acids. They are useful in situations where it is either not possible or desirable to isolate
the probe-target hybrids from an excess of the hybridization probes.