Five new laboratories for PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will open in Georgia on April 23. This was announced by the head of the National Center for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze.
As the head of the National Center for Disease Control told reporters, three new laboratories will begin work in Tbilisi, and two will be opened in Kutaisi and Batumi. He noted that in Georgia the number of tests performed by the PCR method is growing.
Gamkrelidze previously said that in Georgia the number of laboratories that test on coronavirus has been increased from 5 to 15. It is planned that up to 1,500 tests will be performed in the country per day.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the newest and most accurate diagnostic methods. For its development, the scientist Carey Mullis received the Nobel Prize in 1993. Today, although this method is considered experimental, it is already widely and successfully used in medicine.
The PCR method uses the principles of molecular biology. Its essence lies in the use of special enzymes that repeatedly copy fragments of RNA and DNA of pathogens that are in samples of biomaterial, for example, in blood.
After that, laboratory workers verify the obtained fragments with a database, identify the type of pathogen and its concentration.
PCR is carried out in a thermocycler — a device that cools and heats tubes with biomaterial samples. Heating and cooling are required for replication. The accuracy of the temperature regime affects the accuracy of the result.