The invention relates to a method for the design and/or the preparation of
a polynucleotide capture molecule for detecting an amplicon having one
strand serving as target to be detected and/or quantified after
hybridization on said capture molecule, comprising the steps of: (a)
selecting a primer pair defining the amplicon; (b) selecting a specific
sequence of 10 to 100 nucleotides within the amplicon, such that said
specific sequence defines two non-complementary ends of the amplicon; (c)
defining the capture molecule having a capture portion that is
complementary to the specific sequence selected in step b), and a spacer
portion comprising at least 20 nucleotides; and (d) identifying among the
two non-complementary ends of the amplicon a spacer end and a non-spacer
end, respectively, such that the spacer end is non-complementary to the
spacer portion of the capture molecule, and said spacer end exceeds said
non-spacer end by at least 50 bases.