10/13/2020

Scientists Have a Powerful New Tool for Controlling COVID-19

The tool is its own genetic code

Imagine a place where politicians and public health experts use every tool at their disposal to contain the coronavirus. Welcome to the fictional town of Scienceville.

Here, when a citizen catches COVID-19, the entire community gets tested. The tests reveal everyone who is infected, even those who show no symptoms. But the tests alone can’t say how people get sick.

Fortunately, in Scienceville, officials also sequence the genomes of each virus sample they collect. It’s a simple but powerful extra step that reveals which sub-strains of the coronavirus are circulating in the town.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.