JPL is using CDC/ NIH qPCR (quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests to monitor the prevalence of the SARS-nCoV-2 virus around the Laboratory. The test takes about 3-4 hours for the analysis with end-to-end procedure taking approximately 8 hours. Hundreds of tests have been run and we will continue to perform these tests. This information is provided to management to help inform their decisions about how and when JPL personnel can safely return to the Laboratory. This effort is ongoing with the goal of submitting the findings for peer review and publication.




Limit of Detection of SARS nCoV-2 Virus

Vertical Axis: Reaction (refractive index):
Rn is the reporter signal normalized to the fluorescence signal of ROX dye.

Horizontal Axis: Polymerase Chain Reaction Cycle:
Polymerase chain reaction Cycle, or PCR, uses repeated cycles of heating and cooling to make many copies of a specific region of nucleic acid. First, the temperature is raised to near boiling, causing the double-stranded nucleic acid to separate, or denature, into single strands.