Anewvirusemergesandspreadslikewildfire.Inordertocontainit,researchersmustfirstcollectdataaboutwho’sbeeninfected.Twomainviraltestingtechniquesarecritical:onetellsyouifyouhavethevirusandtheothershowsifyou’vealreadyhadit.So,howexactlydothesetestswork?
有一种新型病*出现，而且像野火般散播开来。为了控制住疫情，研究人员首先必须要收集数据，了解受感染的是哪些人。有两种主要的病*检测技术非常重要：一种能判断你目前身上是否有病*，另一种则能显示你是否曾经染上病*。这些检测的原理是什么呢？
PCR,orpolymerasechainreactiontesting,targetsthevirus’sgeneticmaterialinthebodyandisusedtodiagnosesomeonewhoiscurrentlyinfected.Yet,thisgeneticmaterialmaybepresentinsuchimperceptibleamountsthatactuallydetectingitisdifficult.ThisiswherePCR