October 2020
GENEWS
NAST Holds Webinar on COVID-19 Testing
NEWS
3
by MARIA YLENNA NOTORIO (Zisupton)
T
he National Academy for Science and Technology (NAST) conducted its 5th installment of the “COVID-19: Where We Are and Where We Want To Be” webinar series entitled “Understanding The Science of COVID-19 Testing” on September 2, 2020 which explores PCR-based tests, antigen and antibody tests, and the current status of COVID-19 testing in the Philippines discussed by Dr. Cynthia P. Saloma, Director of UP Philippine Genome Center and Dr. Nina G. Gloriani, former Dean of the College of Public Health in UP Manila. Dr. Saloma presented the current status of COVID-19 cases and testing in the country. As of August 31, 2020, there are 224,265 cases of COVID-19 and 3,597 deaths reported. Currently, the country tested 2.39% of the population. The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), UP National Institute of Health, National
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) and UP PGC conducted online biosafety modules and trained medical technologists last April and May 2020 as a preparation for the extensive COVID-19 testing. Followed by the discussion of the RT-PCR test, Dr. Saloma started by describing the structure and genome of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus with
around 29 to 30 kilo base pairs. Its genome comprises 11 genes, some of which are the ORF1A and ORF1B that encode for the replication and translation complex and together comprise two-thirds of the genome. Other genes encode for the structural proteins of the virus. Real-time reverse transcription
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