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Virology Down Under

Facts, data, info, expert opinion and a reasonable, occasionally grumpy, voice on viruses: what they are, how they tick and the illnesses they may cause.

Tag: RT-PCR

Yes, PCR tests can detect “the COVID virus”

Posted onAugust 4, 2020September 14, 2020113 Comments

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 …

CategoriesCommunication, Debunking, DNA, Laboratory methods, PCR, SARS-CoV-2TagsRT-PCR, RT-rPCR

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)…a primer for virus detection

Posted onMay 5, 2018December 30, 2020

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. IMPORTED POST* What it does well The Read More …

CategoriesPCRTagsmethod, polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcription, RT-PCR

PCR primers…a primer!

Posted onMay 5, 2015September 14, 2020

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 …

CategoriesLaboratory methods, PCRTagsmismatch, PCR, polymerase chain reaction, primers, RT-PCR

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  • ‘Endemic’ covers a lot of biology, but we’re probably not there yet for COVID-19 January 2, 2023
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  • WHO to new PCR users: read the damned manual! January 23, 2021
  • Putting PCR into real-time January 2, 2021
  • The mechanics of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…a primer December 28, 2020

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Recent Posts

  • ‘Endemic’ covers a lot of biology, but we’re probably not there yet for COVID-19
  • Whatever happened to communication?
  • Masks matter for more than mandates
  • An early & big flu rise in Australia
  • BA.2.12.1 is on the rise in New York…

All opinions are my own and do not represent medical advice or the views of any institution.

All graphics made by me are free-to-use. Please just cite the particular page, blog and me. A heads-up would be nice too but that can happen later.

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