-
Aha. So traces of virus but not necessarily something that’ll infect you?
And this is what you have in your nose?
kboy-
The RNA is the code that causes your cells to make both the RNA and the delivery mechanism that surrounds the RNA - which is what the picture of the blob with the little prongs sticking off it is. The combination of the RNA and the delivery mechanism is what we think of as the virus.
The rna on its own floating about can’t do you much harm on its own. Not sure if PCR is capable of detecting if the delivery mechanism is present, I suspect not but someone else can confirm.
It’s properly ridiculous when you think about it.
-
And this is what you have in your nose?
Take a moment to reflect on the bizarre times we live in, when this is a perfectly normal question ;)
Howard
russmeyer
Sorry. Virus RNA (its structural molecules) are detected by a method called PCR. But the fact that the virus building blocks are present doesn't automatically mean that there are actual viruses capable of infecting another person there. When they went through the diamond princess cruise ship they found virus RNA on surfaces in the ship's cabins almost a month after all the passengers had left, for instance.