Returning guest and founder of Quantgene, Jo Bhakdi, discusses his work at Quantgene in the COVID-19 testing arena. Press play to learn: What the difference is between specificity and sensitivity, and why a consideration of both is critical for COVID-19 testing What the difference is between antigen, antibody, and PCR-based COVID-19 test procedures, and why Bhakdi believes it is so important to develop real-time rapid PCR-based testing for COVID-19 How the specific virus causing COVID-19 is able to be isolated and identified through PCR-based testing Quantgene’s genomic and liquid biopsy technologies have played a significant role in advancing the speed and accuracy of cancer identification. Now, they’re focusing their efforts on COVID-19 testing methods. “We are all about real-time medical intelligence,” says Bhakdi, as he explains that medicine is mostly a data problem, with the COVID-19 situation being no exception. According to Bhakdi, the COVID-19 testing crisis is not a molecular diagnostic problem, but a time problem: it’s simply taking far too long for people to get their results. Bhakdi explains what PCR testing is and how it works. This includes an explanation of how the amount of genomic material doubles with each amplification cycle in the PCR procedure, in what way the test involves DNA sequencing, and the role of the protein polymerase in synthesizing strands of DNA. He also explains what Quantgene’s COVID-19 test provides that others don’t, and the enormous demand for a reliable test that delivers fast results.  Visit https://www.quantgene.com/ to learn more. Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK