COVID Testing
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PCR
- Polymerase Chain Reaction -
- Need a marker for $50, which can do 1000 tests
- Need a lab
- Nobel Prize of 1985 for PCR
- Good for gene synthesis -
- Virus has been sequenced -
- Primers - to be sequenced -
- 10k - base pairs
- What primer to select? There are regions of the genome that
- Influenza - virus. It's quite mutable
- Look at the sequence - it's random. Take a specific region.
- Unique to COVID - take a gene sequence.
- $100- for 100 or so tests
- PAPR
Controversy
- USA has very little testing, and as such, confirmed cases are underreported - [1]
Links
- COVID Test Kits
- 30 minute test - [2]. The tests consist of strips of paper that are coated with antibodies that bind to a specific viral protein. Isolate antibodies from patients. Sequence them, then make them synthetically. Antibody is a tag that attaches to protein. You detect the virus antibody - such as ELIZA Assay. Colorimetric assay. Suppose you want to detect virus. Take a sample.