The Inventor Kary Mullis, of method used to test for COVID-19 said it can’t be used in virus detection

The Inventor Kary Mullis, of method used to test for COVID-19 said it can’t be used in virus detection.

By Staff Reporter

Social media users have been sharing a quote attributed to the inventor of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, currently being used to detect COVID-19, which says “PCR tests cannot detect free infectious viruses at all”. This quote has been attributed to the inventor, Kary Mullis, and has been taken out of context to falsify its original meaning.

“COVID-19 TEST a FRAUD?”, Mullis, who invented the PCR method in 1985 and was recognized for this achievement by being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993

The context around the quote shows Lauritsen is not saying PCR tests do not work. Instead, he is clarifying that PCR identifies substances qualitatively not quantitatively, detecting the genetic sequences of viruses, but not the viruses themselves: “PCR is intended to identify substances qualitatively, but by its very nature is unsuited for estimating numbers. Although there is a common misimpression that the viral load tests actually count the number of viruses in the blood, these tests cannot detect free, infectious viruses at all; they can only detect proteins that are believed, in some cases wrongly, to be unique to HIV. The tests can detect genetic sequences of viruses, but not viruses themselves.”

The PCR test is the preferred COVID-19 testing method. They say it detects the presence of the virus by amplifying the virus ‘genetic material to a point where it can be detected by scientists.

“It is important to note that detecting viral material by PCR does not indicate that the virus is fully intact and infectious, i.e. able to cause infection in other people. The isolation of infectious virus from positive individuals requires virus culture methods. These methods can only be conducted in laboratories with specialist containment facilities and are time-consuming and complex.”

PCR tests are being used widely used and are delivering consistent false positives.