Fact check: Magnetic particles part of processing PCR tests, not found on swabs

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: PCR tests place magnetic particles in patients

An April 2 Facebook video claims to be revealing the "truth about PCR tests.”

"They have placed a magnetic beacon, so not only will people be biologically changed, but they will be tagged," a woman in the video says about PCR tests. "And this is owned and operated by Rockefeller. This is part of the Barcode for Life Initiative to tag and identify all life forms. No longer will any life form be pure. So, that’s essentially what they’re doing is tweaking us enough that we can be patented."

The video was shared more than 9,000 times in three weeks.

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Our rating: False

There are no magnetic particles on PCR testing swabs used on patients and no magnetic beacons that can track people or make them patentable, experts say. Magnets are sometimes used in a process to amplify genetic material collected during testing, but that happens away from the patient.

Swabs contain no magnetic or metal particles

The polymerase chain reaction test – or PCR test – has been a critical tool for identifying infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

PCR tests are usually performed with a flocked swab that has a nylon microfiber tip and a plastic handle, according to Emily Travanty, laboratory director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The swabs are sterilized and individually wrapped at the manufacturing facility, Travanty said.

“There are no magnetic particles in the swabs that are used to collect the samples,” she said in an email to USA TODAY.

That is borne out in the hundreds of emergency use authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration for SARS-CoV-2 tests. The documents include a list of the materials in each test kit.

The person in the video making claims about PCR testing offers no evidence to support them.

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Dr. Amy Mathers, an infectious disease specialist at UVA Health and associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, suggested the claim could stem from a misunderstanding of how magnets can be used in processing test samples.

She explained that some platforms for testing use nanoparticles, including magnetic particles, in complex chemical reactions to amplify the viral DNA in a patient’s sample or RNA for detection.

The particles bind to genetic material to preserve it while remnants of the sample, such as cell debris and transport fluid, are washed away, Travanty said.

“This chemical reaction would never come in contact with a patient,” Mathers wrote in an email.

Dr. Heba Mostafa, an associate professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University, described the testing in a similar manner.

"It is very important to differentiate between sample collection and the PCR test itself," she wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "Sample collections are performed with a swab that is typically nylon. This is the only component that touches the patient."

Mathers, Travanty and Mostafa all said there was no truth to the idea that magnetic beacons capable of tagging and modifying people were being inserted as part of PCR testing.

The claim of magnetic particles in PCR testing swabs echoes years of misinformation about COVID-19 testing and treatment. USA TODAY has previously debunked a claim that PCR tests are used for human cloning, as well as claims that vaccines are magnetic and can change a recipient’s DNA.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately get a response.

Lead Stories also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim PCR tests implant magnetic beacons in patients