- Lab technicians play a critical but often overlooked role in healthcare.
- COVID-19 is diagnosed using qRT-PCR, which detects viral genetic material.
- DNA is digital, made of nucleotides A, C, G, T, and has a double-strand structure with complementary pairing.
- PCR amplifies specific DNA by cycles of denaturation, primer binding, and polymerization.
- Primers act as search terms to target viral DNA; specificity comes from sequence length and design.
- Two primers are needed to copy both DNA strands, and probes add precision to detection.
- COVID-19 is an RNA virus, so reverse transcriptase converts RNA to DNA for PCR.
- Lab work requires careful sample processing and contamination control.