Feluda: COVID-19 test developed by CSIR-IGIB scientists

The IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) operating under CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) have come up with a COVID-19 test called “Feluda”.

Highlights

The test has been named after a detective character in the stories of film maker Satyajit Ray. The total time taken by the test to produce results is 1 hour.

About the test

The test starts the same way as that of the Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), that is, extraction of RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) and converting into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The highly specific FnCAS9 and CRISPR binds to the sequence. These binding agents then give positivity or negativity results based on the presence of COVID-19.

Advantages

In RT-PCR tests, primers and probes are used to convert RNA to DNA. They amplify the presence of viral nucleic acid. However, in order to achieve this confirmation, the expensive RT-PCR machines are required. This is not so in the case of Feluda. Hence, Feluda is much cheaper and feasible.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2020