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5y
- Nope, still not exactly. Since the results of the test uses the CT value (yes I know this value is not reported to the person being tested, for the reasons I mentioned already: it varies based on the test assay being used), you can increase the number of amplification cycles as much as you want, like I said in my previous comment, it will not change the result. I guess the only thing you could manipulate is to make the cutoff so small than CT is never reached, and 100% of tests are negative. But like I also said, the standard is often 40 cycles, and depending on the tests, CT values for positive tests are typically in the 25 to 35 range, way before the cutoff.
- It was most likely a lie from that ‘expert’ on that channel. Unless he’s grossly incompetent, a doctor would not make that mistake. It’s their usual MO: start with a big lie, let social media spread it everywhere without any verification, and offer a half-assed retraction much later. In case it wasn’t clear, I wasn’t talking about the people repeating it, just the ones creating it. Although I also believe that before repeating something, one should always try and verify the information.
- Just to be clear, it is not chromosome 8, just a sequence present on chromosome 8. Although I read a couple papers years ago, I will never pretend I know enough about primers design to even hazard a guess here. All I know is there’s plenty of requirements for their selection. Of course, above all, it needs to be target-specific while being efficient. So all in all, a rather complex task to define these primers, and I’m not that surprised that one of them happens to match a sequence on a human chromosome.
RE: Why the Covid-19 RT-PCR test is totally fake