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A doctor takes a sample containing viruses from a patient's nasal cavity, throat, sinuses or bronchi. Nucleic acid is extracted from viruses found in the sample. Most respiratory viruses are based on unstable RNA and are converted to complimentary DNA (cDNA) for testing due to DNA's better stability. |
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The nucleic acid is amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a molecular biology technique for rapidly creating multiple copies of DNA. |
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The amplified DNA is mixed with short sequences (TAG primers) of DNA specific to each viral target. If the target is present, the primer will bind and will be lengthened through a process called Target Specific Primer Extension. During this extension, a label is incorporated. |
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Color-coded beads are added to identify the tagged primers. Attached to each differently colored bead is an anti-TAG sequence specific to one of the extended TAG primers. Each anti-TAG only binds to the complementary TAG sequence on the primer. |
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Samples are then placed in a Luminex xMAP® instrument where beads are read and analyzed by lasers. The lasers identify the color of the bead (specific to a virus or subtype) and the presence or absence of the labeled primer. If a particular virus is present, it will generate a signal and will be identified by the associated software as a positive. |
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xTAG RVP comes with easy to interpret data analysis software, which provides clear results at a glance. Further detail on results such as the strength of the signals is available at the click of a button. (Image shows CE Marked version of software.) |
