CINCINNATI — Engineering students at the University of Cincinnati are taking part in their own research into COVID-19.
The students are looking for RNA in waste water from four different on-campus dorms.
Twice a week, students like Miriam Knutson and Milo Shrive head to the research site on campus and check on the data, which all starts with a blue bin, a pair of gloves and a mask.
"In the blue bin there's bottles we put the samples in," Knutson said. "The plumbers will take the pumps out of the system, and then we check to see if there were any samples collected."
Knutson said if no samples were collected, they run the pump themselves and pour it into the bottles.
After the samples are collected, they are sent off to a lab to be tested, where peace of mind if the goal.
Patrick Kurtz, a graduate student, said conversation about this research started roughly three years ago.
"We've only had about 4 tests come back [this semester] and each of them have indicated either, either zero or very low levels of COVID detection,” Kurtz said.
Associate Professor David Wendell, who is advising the research, told WCPO 9 that he got incredibly sick at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. His own story has influenced him to do all he cant to prevent his students from going through the same thing.
With new funding from the Ohio State Health Department, the students can also track trends and hopefully work to prevent a COVID case surge on campus. They're also hopeful to begin this research with other viruses, including the flu.
“I think it's important to keep as much monitoring as possible," Kurtz said.
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