Jun 2, 2021
For most, PCR testing was a topic confined largely to the world of molecular biology textbooks before its widespread use during the ongoing virus situation.
Mention of the test can be heard almost everywhere at this point, but do we know how it actually works? Do we understand its intended use, and what it can actually tell us?
Press play to learn:
Professor of molecular medicine at Anglia Ruskin University, Stephen Bustin, has spent years trying to improve the quality of molecular testing for diagnostic and research purposes. This includes PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) testing, a method that’s become the topic of much conversation—even among general members of the public—since the early stages of the current virus situation.
Bustin explains the development of the PCR and RT-PCR testing
method, the details of how it works via amplification of RNA, and
what it can and can’t accomplish. He also discusses the necessary
parameters for using the test to detect a particular virus, the
discrepancy between clinical information and a positive or negative
PCR test result, the risk of contamination, critical measures to
take prior to and during the use of the PCR method (and whether
they were taken during the early stages of the current virus
situation), the interpretation of PCR test results, and
more.
Episode also available on Apple
Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C