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Plaque assays are how we work out how much SARS-COV-2 we have in a sample.
And they’re great to illustrate how infections in people work too!
And they’re great to illustrate how infections in people work too!
The virus causes damage to the cells and we get these areas called ‘plaques’ which show up white.
However big the plaque is we count it as 1 plaque forming unit.
However big the plaque is we count it as 1 plaque forming unit.
It’s like in people....
If you get one large cluster, it’s like one large plaque. We assume that one infectious person resulted in a cluster. In the assay we assume 1 virus caused the plaque
If you get one large cluster, it’s like one large plaque. We assume that one infectious person resulted in a cluster. In the assay we assume 1 virus caused the plaque
If we can track clusters in people and keep them separate through contact tracing, it means we end up with the top left image....and not the bottom right... which would be an uncontrolled outbreak.
Experiment was done with @cggbamford
The images are taken on a @Nexcelom Celigo which is on loan (and I never want to give back...but costs more than my mortgage!)
The images are taken on a @Nexcelom Celigo which is on loan (and I never want to give back...but costs more than my mortgage!)
