I am thinking of getting this . It will be cheaper to operate than it was 2 years ago because there is new free software that allows one to target specific pieces of interest rather than having to fo thru the entire genome. Hopefully then any costly reagents will last a long time. I pasted below a link to that academic paper on the technology. TheRe are non academic news story descriptions of the impact of this that are more informative but i dont have them in front of me.
I think a bigger obstacle will be availability. At only 4 ounces and with new software this is becoming in high demand. Its already being used in the field all around the world to test covid variants quickly. Reagents are in short supply too from all the covid pcr tests.
i have not tried yet to see if its in stock. Another obstacle for me is been particularly crummy lately after a year of being more funcional. I think my disease is changing. Challenge to take care of myself so not sure i can take this on.
if i can, first thing i am interested in doing is to identify the recurrent virus that i have. I suspect it is hsv1 but need more proof. I have tried everything to get the medical world to do this for me but When the outbreak has an open sore it doesnt last long and needs to be samples right away. Have tried so hard with pcp and ID to be set up to have a kit at home to sample and then will bring to them. Hasnt happened.
Anyway this should be fairly straighforward. I woukd have no trouble selecting a primer for hsv1 and then running PCR. At least i think the sequencer can do that. If not can still tell it what sequence to look for. Will also see if can get it from saliva as well as from lesions itself. If its positive i will sequence the entire hsv1 genome that is plauging me I can easily compare to the other sequences on genbank to see if ive got A unique Virulent variant or a known one that just happened to end up in atypical places
but theres more....i want to follow up on one the rare varisnts oli have from exome testing. I think i can do rna expression with the sequencer and can see how my faulty gene is nonetheless producing rna. I cant do a tissue biopsy though...
also want to runna cancer screen which is what this device was largely used for before covid.
so lots of uses. Besides physical constraint , a littke concern ilover chemicals given my chemical sensitivity but hope the masks will come in handy
i shoukd check if in stock but do t want to get disappointed if its not. Whens the next stimulus relief check coming?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-00746-x
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