4 ms·

This comments reads like the classic "dropbox is trivial, it's just rsync" except it's more like "dropbox is trivial, it's just rsync on kubernetes with a react

by chippy 7y ago

This comments reads like the classic "dropbox is trivial, it's just rsync" except it's more like "dropbox is trivial, it's just rsync on kubernetes with a reactJS frontend and a backend written in Haskell"

buboard 7y ago
no it isn't . there are lot of research labs that can do the test. the problem is safety, not the test itself.
- jjoonathan 7y ago
  ...and to dig one layer deeper, the actual problem is diffusing blame in cases where the test is wrong or someone wants to blame the lab for the fact that they caught the bug, not safety. That's what certifications are for (in this case), and that's the real reason why running without one is risky.
  - buboard 7y ago
    risk tolerance changes in times of crisis though
    - LanceH 7y ago
      Statutes of limitation run past the crisis when the lawsuits phrased, "you should have known" come out.
      - Balgair 7y ago
        Yeah, imagine the janitor gets exposed to the virus, they then expose their entire family, those people then expose more, etc. You could easily kill someone.
archi42 7y ago
It's more like "We already have implemented dropbox for .jpg-files, also doing it for .png-files is trivial". You won't be doing all this [PCR] from scratch at home McGyver-style (okay, maaaaaybe with a biochemical education) - but if you've got access to a biochemical lab that's doing RT-PCR anyway, has all the machines and all necessary chemicals (expect the COVID-specific markers) it's much more straightforward.
- archi42 7y ago
  2d later, not that anyone still sees this. But: I know from a friend that their university lab is making plans to have their PCR-cabable equipment and staff on standby to run corona tests.
Metacelsus 7y ago
Maybe for someone with no bio background. But these are pretty standard techniques in molecular biology. The only tricky part is collecting the sample without exposing yourself to the virus.
- eitally 7y ago
  These are techniques high school students learn and practice in AP Bio... at least I did, 25 years ago.
  - mrosett 7y ago
    Really? PCR was pretty new at that point.
    - whymauri 7y ago
      Reading through some archived curricula, it was in a 1993 practice exam, at least. [0] I'm pretty surprised as well. [0] http://www.csun.edu/science/biology/AP_biology/text%20files/genetics.txt http://www.csun.edu/science/biology/AP_biology/text%20files/...
  - omar_a1 7y ago
    Yes, and middle school students learn to write "Hello World!" HTML pages. So, by that logic, any web developer is interchangeable with a middle schooler.
- whymauri 7y ago
  Yeah, the Dropbox example doesn't make sense. Dropbox is hard to build because it needs to work at scale and for general enterprise purposes. Similarly, regional/state-sponsored testing is hard because it needs to work at scale and for a large population of people. Running these kits out of your garage is like running a tweaked, existing file system for a home network. Not completely trivial, but it's not Dropbox, guys.
  - omar_a1 7y ago

by chippy 7y ago

buboard 7y ago

no it isn't . there are lot of research labs that can do the test. the problem is safety, not the test itself.

jjoonathan 7y ago
...and to dig one layer deeper, the actual problem is diffusing blame in cases where the test is wrong or someone wants to blame the lab for the fact that they caught the bug, not safety. That's what certifications are for (in this case), and that's the real reason why running without one is risky.
- buboard 7y ago
  risk tolerance changes in times of crisis though
  - LanceH 7y ago
    Statutes of limitation run past the crisis when the lawsuits phrased, "you should have known" come out.
    - Balgair 7y ago
      Yeah, imagine the janitor gets exposed to the virus, they then expose their entire family, those people then expose more, etc. You could easily kill someone.

archi42 7y ago

It's more like "We already have implemented dropbox for .jpg-files, also doing it for .png-files is trivial". You won't be doing all this [PCR] from scratch at home McGyver-style (okay, maaaaaybe with a biochemical education) - but if you've got access to a biochemical lab that's doing RT-PCR anyway, has all the machines and all necessary chemicals (expect the COVID-specific markers) it's much more straightforward.

archi42 7y ago
2d later, not that anyone still sees this. But: I know from a friend that their university lab is making plans to have their PCR-cabable equipment and staff on standby to run corona tests.

Metacelsus 7y ago

Maybe for someone with no bio background. But these are pretty standard techniques in molecular biology. The only tricky part is collecting the sample without exposing yourself to the virus.

eitally 7y ago
These are techniques high school students learn and practice in AP Bio... at least I did, 25 years ago.
- mrosett 7y ago
  Really? PCR was pretty new at that point.
  - whymauri 7y ago
    Reading through some archived curricula, it was in a 1993 practice exam, at least. [0] I'm pretty surprised as well. [0] http://www.csun.edu/science/biology/AP_biology/text%20files/genetics.txt http://www.csun.edu/science/biology/AP_biology/text%20files/...
- omar_a1 7y ago
  Yes, and middle school students learn to write "Hello World!" HTML pages. So, by that logic, any web developer is interchangeable with a middle schooler.
whymauri 7y ago
Yeah, the Dropbox example doesn't make sense. Dropbox is hard to build because it needs to work at scale and for general enterprise purposes. Similarly, regional/state-sponsored testing is hard because it needs to work at scale and for a large population of people. Running these kits out of your garage is like running a tweaked, existing file system for a home network. Not completely trivial, but it's not Dropbox, guys.
- omar_a1 7y ago