The ridiculously oversimplified claim that PCR can “detect one single molecule”
There’s so much more to these four words than is attributed to them, so I thought I’d better write that down instead of leaving it in my head. Here’s hoping Read More …
Category: PCR
Just 0.7% of of universally screened asymptomatic patients produced unrepeatable PCR tests
A recent paper entitled “Diagnostic Value and Outcomes of Systematic SARS-CoV-2 Screening in Asymptomatic Patients” highlights the need for innovative contextual actions in response to positive PCR results during exceptional Read More …
Pathology lab PCR is not research lab PCR
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) use in the pathology lab differs from research-based PCR in two fundamental ways, namely quality and clinical expertise. These are essential to producing a clinical diagnosis supported by Read More …
More PCR cycles don’t mean magic results
The quote below has been circulated for a while, amplified by those with no PCR understanding. Its focus is to make you believe that too many PCR cycles create false Read More …
WHO to new PCR users: read the damned manual!
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published (14th Dec 2020, then updated 20th Jan 2021) a piece of advice for laboratories testing for SARS-CoV-2 using PCR. The advice boils down: Read More …
Putting PCR into real-time
Three letters have been very busy in 2020: P. C. and R. The Polymerase Chain Reaction. It’s a tiny, thermally controlled, cyclical, enzyme-driven, chemical reaction that lets scientists identify the Read More …
The mechanics of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…a primer
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique for copying a piece of DNA a billion-fold. As the name suggests, the process creates a chain of many pieces, in this Read More …
The “false-positive PCR” problem is not a problem
If you haven’t seen all the chatter that states PCRs using more than thirty-something (someone even suggested 25 to me!) cycles will suffer from false positives, and so are useless, Read More …
More testing shows more iceberg
COVID-19 case numbers are rising quickly in many parts of the northern hemisphere. Already some totals have outstripped the peaks seen in the first wave of the pandemic. Europe and Read More …
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 …
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 the use of the words “kit” and “reagent”. I completely feel for you if you still have no real idea of what is meant by 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
The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a cyclical enzyme-driven amplification technique for copying a DNA template into billions of copies. IMPORTED POST* What it does well The purpose of Read More …