I worked in the Defense Industry for a spell and PCR was a fine tool for Bioagent detection and is much cheaper, smaller, and easier to operate than a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS).
The difference is Public Health Admins and Military Ops have different goals. On a mission, the warfighter is not looking to jack up the…
I worked in the Defense Industry for a spell and PCR was a fine tool for Bioagent detection and is much cheaper, smaller, and easier to operate than a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS).
The difference is Public Health Admins and Military Ops have different goals. On a mission, the warfighter is not looking to jack up the readings so high that they get a discouraging reading. The PCR process is intended only to increase the number what's presumed to be a too-small-to-detect number of organisms so that it rises above the threshold for detection.
Whereas, Public Health intends to use The Science to exert control and, as noted elsewhere in this comments section, Pretend That They Are Really, seriously Really Smart. Smarter Than You, For Sure.
The tool's not the real problem. It's who does the measuring, and who presents the results.
"RT-PCR"
I worked in the Defense Industry for a spell and PCR was a fine tool for Bioagent detection and is much cheaper, smaller, and easier to operate than a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS).
The difference is Public Health Admins and Military Ops have different goals. On a mission, the warfighter is not looking to jack up the readings so high that they get a discouraging reading. The PCR process is intended only to increase the number what's presumed to be a too-small-to-detect number of organisms so that it rises above the threshold for detection.
Whereas, Public Health intends to use The Science to exert control and, as noted elsewhere in this comments section, Pretend That They Are Really, seriously Really Smart. Smarter Than You, For Sure.
The tool's not the real problem. It's who does the measuring, and who presents the results.