Lt. Rob Polans ret. wrote:
I can think of one that describes them, but I can't use it here.
Btw, I thought you might be interested in this:
Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts
Israeli Researchers Come Up with New Method of Testing for Coronavirus
MAR 24, 2020 10:00 AM BY HUGH FITZGERALD10 COMMENTS
Researchers at Israel’s Technion–Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Health Care Campus have successfully tested a new method, called “pooling,” that they claim will dramatically increase the country’s ability to test for COVID-19. Because the method enables simultaneous testing of dozens of samples, its implementation will greatly accelerate the rate of COVID-19 testing and detection, according to the researchers.
The hopeful story is here.
COVID-19 testing in Israel is currently focusing on symptomatic individuals, because the current rate of testing—about 1,200 a day—does not allow for monitoring of asymptomatic carriers in the population, though such monitoring is vital to curb the epidemic.
To confirm the presence of COVID-19 virus in a sample, researchers must detect the virus’s unique genetic sequence in a sample. The test takes several hours, so testing individual samples thus generates a bottleneck.
According to Dr. Yuval Gefen, director of the Rambam Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, “Today, we receive approximately 200 COVID-19 test samples a day, and each sample undergoes individual examination. According to the new pooling approach we have currently tested, molecular testing can be performed on a ‘combined sample,’ taken from 32 or 64 patients. This way we can significantly accelerate the testing rate. Only in those rare cases where the joint sample is found to be positive will we conduct an individual test for each of the specific samples.”
Professor Roy Kishony, who heads the research group in the Technion’s Faculty of Biology, said that while the new method involves some logistical challenges, it will “greatly increase” the rate of sample testing, which in turn will help “flatten the infection curve.”
According to Technion President professor Uri Sivan, the experimental verification of this new testing method, which ordinarily would have taken months, was completed in under four days.
This experiment conducted by Technion and Rambam researchers is complex, and under normal circumstances would take months. This is a remarkable example of the mobilization of an outstanding team in a time of crisis. The initial experiment was completed in less than four days. This achievement emphasizes the importance of the close relationship between Technion and Rambam and between medicine and engineering. Technion researchers have been enlisted in the war against the coronavirus and this is one of the many activities currently underway at Technion to combat the spread of the disease.”
Israeli scientists have come up with a much faster way of testing people for the coronavirus — molecular testing that can be performed on a “combined sample,” taken from 32 or 64 patients. In cases where the joint sample is found to be positive, the scientists will then conduct an individual test for each of the specific samples.
Are you surprised that this advance in testing large populations came out of that speck on the world map, Israel? No, of course not. You have come to expect medical, technological, defense, agricultural, and every conceivable sort of advance from that tiny country. What would surprise you is if Israeli scientists played no part in coming up with better diagnostic tests, more useful therapies, and effective vaccines for coronavirus. In fact, both the Institute for Biological Research in Israel, and the state-funded Migal Galilee Research Institute also announced a breakthrough in the development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus. Both groups have promised to come up with a vaccine within “weeks” and no one doubts it. That does not mean that either vaccine is ready for immediate use; up to 18 months of further testing will be required to make sure they are safe for use in humans. But the point is that we are not surprised by any of this; we expect medical breakthroughs from Israel. No one expects anything similar – or indeed, expects any medical advances at all – from the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Shouldn’t we be pondering what explains this colossal disparity?
The Israelis have come up with new treatments for many types of cancer, for heart disease – including 3-D hearts –and recently, came up, too, with a single drug to effectively treat incurable inflammatory diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, as well as neurodegenerative maladies such as Alzheimer’s disease. Of course we expect them to come up with something; even their enemies are expecting Israeli medical advances.