In tiny tubes filled with strands of human DNA, Robert Figliozzi carefully extracts what could be breakthrough science in the fight against the coronavirus.
The samples are mixed and sorted into data through machines. Figliozzi then identifies what are called biomarkers, indicators that predict the severity -- even what type -- of COVID-19 symptoms a patient will have.
"That, hopefully, will lead to those individual patients getting the right types of therapy and medical attention that they need," said Figliozzi, a lab coordinator at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.