I found this a really clear and useful explanation (though I already had a decent idea how NAO worked)!
If ever you want to reach a broader audience, I think making an animated video based on this content, maybe with the help of Rational Animations or Kurtzgesagt, would work well.
Assuming a key inefficiency of the nasal swabs method is the labour costs of people collecting them, is the process straightforward enough that you could just set up an unmanned sample collection place where in a busy building somewhere people can just swab themselves and drop the sample in a chute or box or something? Hopefully post-Covid people are fairly familiar with nasal swabbing technique.
I think the main downside of setting up a sample collection box is that the samples would probably sit a lot longer before being processed, and RNA degrades quickly. I also suspect you wouldn’t get very many samples.
(The process itself is super simple for participants: you just swab your nose.)
I found this a really clear and useful explanation (though I already had a decent idea how NAO worked)!
If ever you want to reach a broader audience, I think making an animated video based on this content, maybe with the help of Rational Animations or Kurtzgesagt, would work well.
Assuming a key inefficiency of the nasal swabs method is the labour costs of people collecting them, is the process straightforward enough that you could just set up an unmanned sample collection place where in a busy building somewhere people can just swab themselves and drop the sample in a chute or box or something? Hopefully post-Covid people are fairly familiar with nasal swabbing technique.
I’m finishing up a video covering NAO and wastewater monitoring, though not based on this specific talk.
Wow!
If you’d like me to review it for accuracy before you publish it I’d be happy to!
I think the main downside of setting up a sample collection box is that the samples would probably sit a lot longer before being processed, and RNA degrades quickly. I also suspect you wouldn’t get very many samples.
(The process itself is super simple for participants: you just swab your nose.)