Feluda CRISPR test kit for Covid-19 gets govt’s approval

Last updated on February 15th, 2023 at 01:11 pm

Feluda is an indigenous kit that utilizes CRISPR gene-editing technology to distinguish and find the genetic material of Sars-CoV2, which causes Coronavirus. It has been endorsed by the legislature of India. 

Feluda (test kit) has been created by senior scientists Dr. Souvik Maiti and Dr. Debojyoti Chakraborty at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) in New Delhi. Feluda test kit is named after the famous fictional character and novel composed by Satyajit Ray.

The CSIR research group began making the new test kit while working on the sickle cell mission for genome diagnostics and therapeutics. Soon they learned that the innovation could be checked in rapidly building coronavirus test kit. Additionally, ‘Feluda’ is the world’s first diagnostic test kit to carry a uniquely adapted Cas9 protein to effectively detect Sars-CoV2. 

The ‘Feluda’ test will cost around Rs 500 while the RT-PCR test presently costs between Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,000. The best part of this new antibody test is that it can give results in about 20-30 minutes and will cost somewhere around Rs 500 and Rs 600. 

Here are a couple of insights regarding the Feluda Covid-19 test and CRISPR innovation:- 

The Feluda test is like a pregnancy test strip that will simply change the color when the virus is detected and can be utilized in a simple path. Lab. As per Dr. Debojyoti Chakraborty, the Cas9 protein is barcoded to interface with the SARS-CoV2 grouping in the patient’s genetic material. 

The Cas9-SARS-CoV2 complex is later placed on the paper strip, where utilizing two lines (one control, one test) makes it conceivable to decide whether the test was tainted with coronavirus or not, The Indian Express revealed. 

CRISPR is a gene-altering technology and its utilization in revising genetic deformities and treating and forestalling the spread of infections. CRISPR full form is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. 

The CRISPR technology can recognize explicit successions of DNA inside an enzyme functioning a catalyst working as atomic scissors to clip it. It additionally permits scientists to easily edit DNA groupings and alter gene function. In addition, new technology can likewise be used for detecting numerous different pathogens in the upcoming future. 

A CSIR announcement said that The Tata CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) test, sponsored by CSIR-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) FELUDA, has met top-notch benchmarks, with 96 percent affectability and 98 percent detecting the Covid virus.

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