IIT-Delhi researchers develop affordable way to test for COVID-19
In a bid to help India brace for the looming threat of coronavirus outbreak, researchers at IIT Delhi have come up with an affordable new way of testing for the disease. The method, which is yet to be approved, could make it possible for a large number of people in the country to get themselves screened in time. Here's all about it.
Assay to look for 'unique regions' in coronavirus
The novel testing mechanism revolves around looking for some unique regions associated with the coronavirus causing COVID-19. "These unique regions are not present in other human coronaviruses providing an opportunity to specifically detect COVID-19," Professor Vivekanandan Perumal, lead member of the team, told PTI while explaining their method. It reportedly gives results in a simple yes/no and is comparable to commercially-available kits.
How this method targets unique COVID-19 regions
"Primer sets targeting unique regions in spike protein of COVID-19 were designed and tested using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The primers designed by the group specifically bind to regions conserved in over 200 fully sequenced COVID-19 genomes," team members Parul Gupta and Prashant Pradhan stated.
Affordability is the key advantage here
The technique works without the use of extensive instrumentation or probes (like the current ways), which significantly reduces the cost of the test - without compromising the accuracy of the result. "In addition, it can also quantitatively assess virus loads," Gupta and Pradhan added while highlighting the suitability of this assay "for specific and affordable high throughput screening of COVID-19."
This would be critical to boost India's testing for COVID-19
With affordable testing, more and more people, particularly poverty-stricken groups, will be able to get themselves tested for COVID-19. This would boost the testing capacity of the country, helping with the detection and isolation of infected patients, which is crucial to break the chain of infection and stopping the spread for good. Currently, over 400 people have been confirmed to be infected.
No clarity on availability right now
At the time of writing, there was no clarity on when the new probe-free method would be available. According to researchers, the assay has been pitched to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), which is in the process of validating the method on clinical samples. Once that is done, it could be scaled up to meet the increasing demand in the country.
Current COVID-19 testing is restricted to select public, private institutions
COVID-19 testing is being handled by select government hospitals for free. But, to keep these facilities from being overwhelmed, the government has also allowed private labs, with NABL accreditation for PCR SA for RNA virus, to test at a fee not more than Rs. 4,500.
