Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for COVID-19 use what’s known as gene cloning – not reproductive cloning – to detect the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but social media posts ...

Researchers often call the polymerase chain reaction test – known as the PCR test – "the gold standard" for detecting the COVID-19 virus. The test is considered highly reliable and effective, and it ...

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test detects genetic material from a pathogen or abnormal cell sample. Ways of collecting samples include a nasal swab, a saliva swab, or taking a sample of blood.

The COVID-19 pandemic yielded important advances in testing for respiratory viruses, but it also exposed important unmet needs in screening to prevent the spread of infections in high-risk settings.

COVID-19 is commonly diagnosed by quantitative fluorescence real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) (1, 2). The test is the sequential action of two enzymes–an ...