Question

(ii) State and describe one reliable laboratory technique to confirm a COVID-19 case.

Answer 1

answer- one reliable laboratory technique to confirm a COVID19 case is RT-qPCR.

PCR is a process that amplifies a segment of DNA into many. RT-qPCR tests are a direct test method that is based on detecting the presence of an antigen instead of the antibodies. The RT-qPCR can detect very early whether someone has the virus or not even before the onset of the symptoms. It gives results in real-time as it uses a fluorescent dye to measure the quantity of DNA present at each cycle during PCR.

For testing, samples are obtained (nasal swab, saliva, mucus)and the genetic material is extracted. Since the causing agent of COVID19 is a virus then it's genetic material will be RNA. This RNA is then transcribed into complement DNA by the enzyme reverse transcriptase in and the cDNA is then used as a template for the qPCR.

(Note- I have tried to explain my best, if you still have some problem you can ask me that in the comment section. Thank you?)