The molecular biology of COVID-19

Note: Recording: https://bit.ly/2wzI7lW
Speaker: Brian Dawes, Boston University

When: April 9, 2020 (Thu), 12:30PM to 01:30PM (add to my calendar)
Hosted by: Eric Boyers

This event is part of the Graduate Student Council Events.

Part of the student seminar series.

COVID-19 has become a global pandemic causing massive changes to everyone's way of life. In this talk, I will review some of the basic molecular biology of COVID-19. I will first discuss how viruses function in general and then specifically the mechanism the COVID-19 virus uses to infect human cells. I will then switch to covering testing methods. I will discuss both PCR based tests for genetic material and serum tests for antibodies. I will end with discussing some of the logistics of these testing methods. As this topic is fairly removed from what most physicists study, all questions are welcome.