Feluda test kit to be made available in 8 metro cities

The indigenously developed testing kit for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) based on the gene-editing technology Crispr will be rolled out across eight centres of Apollo hospitals in eight metro cities.

Context

• The indigenously developed testing kit for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) based on the gene-editing technology Crispr will be rolled out across eight centres of Apollo hospitals in eight metro cities.

Key Highlights

• The kit offers results within 45 minutes with accuracy levels comparable to the gold standard of Covid-19 tests: the RT-PCR method.
• The new kit has a high sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 98%.
• It will support theAatmaNirbhar Bharat pledge in providing the launch pad for adoption of indigenously developed test. 
  
  

How it will work?

• The new test will work by collecting a swab sample from which RNA is extracted and amplified using a thermocycler.
• The sample is then tested using a paper strip barcoded with the Cas-9 protein of the Crispr system, which recognises the genetic material of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
• The strip displays lines to show whether a person has the virus that causes Covid-19, just like a home-based pregnancy testing kit.
• An artificial intelligence based mobile application will be used to capture a photograph of the test strip and give the results to eliminate errors.