The present invention is directed generally to methods facilitating the
cloning of nucleic acid molecules. In particular, the invention relates
to the use of polymerase inhibitors, including but not limited to
anti-polymerase antibodies (such as anti-Taq antibodies) and fragments
thereof, to inactivate residual polymerase activity remaining after the
amplification (particularly via PCR) of a target nucleic acid molecule.
The invention further provides compositions, particularly storage-stable
compositions, comprising one or more components, such as one or more
restriction endonucleases and one or more polymerase inhibitors, that are
useful in cloning amplified or synthesized nucleic acid molecules by the
above-described methods. The invention also relates to nucleic acid
molecules produced by these methods, and to genetic constructs (such as
vectors) and host cells comprising these nucleic acid molecules.
