Sigh, yes, the ‘COVID virus’ is real
There has been talk out thar in the wildlands of Twitter from people who don’t believe the evidence that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is real. Has Read More …
Category: PCR
Yes, PCR tests can detect “the COVID virus”
I was asked to write some comments for a fact check article about some of the myths going around about PCR-based testing and whether PCR tests can detect “the COVID Read More …
And another thing…on false positives
Sometimes the full story can’t fit into a media article. A lot of words can be said during an interview with a journalist but sometimes it’s just really hard to Read More …
Kits and reagents and viruses
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven use of the words “kit” and “reagent”. I completely feel for you if you still have no real idea of what is meant by these Read More …
What does a positive PCR result mean…or not mean?
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has remained a hugely important laboratory tool for decades. Subtle changes to the enzymes and drastic changes to the detection of a result have occurred Read More …
Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)…a primer for virus detection
IMPORTED POST* The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a cyclical enzyme-driven amplification technique for copying a chain of DNA into billions of new copies. What it does well The Read More …
HTLV-1 primers: a list of some that have been published in the scientific literature
In recent weeks there has been a surge in media interest about a virus called human T-lymphotropic virus I (HTLV-1) that is present among the Indigenous Australians living in communities Read More …
PCR primers…a primer!
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR, described here) works mainly because of two components – a heat-stable DNA polymerase enzyme (adds new nucleotides to a chain of nucleotides) and a pair Read More …