in the sanctuaries of Omicron Laboratories: How cases and mutations are detected

SKAI’s cameras entered the sanctuaries of the biology and virology laboratories to record the painful and delicate process for locating the cases and identifying the variations of the coronavirus.

Maria Rhodes, molecular biologist of the laboratory of the 6th RAE of the University of Patras shows how a person is found to be positive for the coronavirus.

“Essentially this sample here is positive for all three genes, so the human is positive for the coronavirus. “If this curve is missing from a sample, then the person who has been found to be positive is probably a carrier of the Omicron mutation”, notes Ms. Rhodes.

As she explains, “the samples are processed in this special system which is a flow chamber, we store them in the refrigerator in special conditions and after all the processing is done in the canopy, then they are placed in special machines to be extracted. genetic material “.

For his part, the commander of the 6th RAE, Giannis Karvelis, points out to SKAI’s camera that “we have located the Delta mutation, we have located the British mutation, we have located the African mutation and of course all these samples were individualized and we found out who they belonged to. and the necessary personal protection measures were taken “.

The Delta mutation has spread across the country since August, but scientists are confident it’s only a matter of time before Omicron dominates. In fact, the new mutation infects people who have already become ill.

“There is a vertical increase in positive samples in December. Specifically for the whole of 2020 we had 4% positive from everything we examined. For 2021 until November we had 22% positive, obviously they went up due to the mutations and in December we have reached 58% of the average of positive samples “, says the professor of Laboratory Hematology – Blood Donation at the Department of Medicine of the University of Patras, Athanasia Mouz.

SKAI’s camera also entered the virology laboratory of the University of Crete. The new coronavirus mutations, including Omicron, are detected in special machines.

“We check all our samples with preliminary tests for suspicion of such strains and when we find something suspicious we immediately activate protocols for complete genomic analysis and make targeted analyzes on samples depending on the epidemiological situation in the country,” said Professor of Clinical Biology. Σουρβίνος.

According to the assistant professor of clinical virology, a pre-screening procedure is followed on the samples, which allows them to identify the suspects and to analyze only them.

For many days now, the entire scientific staff of the laboratories has been working day and night in order to detect cases of the new mutation.

Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news