Thread by @weatherindia

#Feluda: All You Need to Know about India’s Newly-Approved #COVID19 Test

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#covid19 #coronavirus

#Feluda, a low-cost, indigenously developed testing method that can detect the novel coronavirus accurately in less than 30 minutes, has been approved for commercial use by the Drugs Controller General of India.

#COVID19 tests that are currently being used take longer time for diagnosis, leading to delays. However, Feluda significantly reduces the diagnostic time, which will come in handy considering the nationwide COVID-19 case tally has been consistently rising at an exponential rate.

What is Feluda and how does it work?

#Feluda stands for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay. The name is also a tribute to Satyajit Ray’s well-known fictional character of the same name—a private detective in a series of Bengali novels.

The test uses indigenous #CRISPR gene-editing technology to recognise and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2, the virus responsible for #COVID19.

#CRISPR—an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, a gene-editing technology—is used to fix gene defects.

This technology identifies a specific DNA sequence within the gene, and then, an enzyme acting as a molecular scissor is used to cut off the DNA sequence, thereby changing the DNA and tweaking gene function.

The #COVID19-causing coronavirus is detected by CRISPR tests that use CAS12 and CAS13 proteins for diagnosis.

#Feluda is also the world’s first diagnostic test to use a specially adapted Cas9 protein for the successful detection of the virus. The Cas9 protein is coded in a way that makes it interact with the SARS-CoV2 sequence present in the patient’s genetic material.

Then, this Cas9-SARS-CoV2 complex is put on the paper strip with two lines—one control, one test—which help confirm or deny the viral infection.

This paper-based test strip has been developed by a research team from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Tata Group, led by Debojyoti Chakraborty and Souvik Maiti.

The CSIR Research team was previously working under sickle cell mission for genome diagnostics and therapeutics, during which they realised that the same technology can be utilised to create a new testing kit for COVID-19.

What are the benefits of the #FeludaCOVID19Test over other tests?

The Feluda test can be conducted by taking a sample of saliva or blood. Its working is similar to that of a pregnancy test. The paper strip will change its colour and generate two lines for positive diagnosis.

The time taken for the diagnosis will be less than 30 minutes. According to reports, the cost of the test will be around Rs. 500, which will make it much more affordable than the tests that are being used currently.

In comparison, the RT-PCR tests, which are priced between Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,000, tend to be expensive for the general population. Meanwhile, antibody tests cost Rs 500-600 and give out results within 30 minutes.

#covid19

A rapid antigen test kit costs Rs 450, and also gives out results within 30 minutes, whereas the TruNat tests detect the virus within 60 minutes and cost around Rs 1,300.

#coronavirus

The accuracy level of the Feluda test is equivalent to that of the RT-PCR test, which is considered to be of the topmost standard.

#coronavirus #covid19test #feluda