A process of fragmenting and labeling a synthetic or natural nucleic acid, comprising
the steps of providing a mixture containing a nucleic acid, a labeling agent containing
a detectable label, and at least one multivalent metal cation in a substantially
aqueous solution; chemically fragmenting the nucleic acid in the mixture to produce
a multiplicity of nucleic acid fragments; and attaching at least one label to at
least one of the nucleic acid fragments to produce a detectably labeled nucleic
acid fragment.