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Updated: Apr 24, 2020 20:20 IST

IIT Delhi’s development of first indigenous Covid 19 probe free real-time PCR diagnostic kit to have won the approval of Indian Council of Medical Research has been hailed as an example of the make in India initiative being pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as one of the implements of self-reliance needed to defeat the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Friday felicitated a team of scientists from IIT Delhi comprising Prof. Vivekananad Perumal and Prof. Manoj Menon and said that the institute had taken an important step towards achieving the goal of self-reliance set by PM Narendra Modi.

The IIT team has developed a probe-free method as opposed to the probe-based methods currently in use for testing for coronavirus. It uses comparative sequence analysis to identify unique regions in COVID-19 which are not found in other human coronaviruses, thereby, providing an opportunity to specifically detect Covid-19. It has approved by India’s top medical research body ICMR and is likely to make testing for the virus lot more affordable.

The team is targeting large scale deployment of the kit at affordable prices with suitable industrial partners as soon as possible. The development follows a decision to suspend rapid testing for Covid antibodies using China-made kits after several states complaint of massive variations in results.

Pokhriyal said that in line with the PM’s vision for the country to develop its own strengths and not be dependent on the world, institutes like IITs were encouraged to step up their research and innovation initiatives with respect to the Covid 19 pandemic.

The prime minister on Friday reiterated his emphasis on self-reliance in times of crisis like these.

“This Pandemic has thrown at us new challenges and problems which we have never imagined, but it also taught us a very good lesson with a strong message. It has taught us that we have to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. It has taught us that we should not look for solutions outside the country. This is the biggest lesson we have learnt,” said the PM, while interacting with 2.5 lakh gram panchayat heads on the Panchayati Raj Day.



The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19

The kit made by IIT Delhi has been validated at ICMR with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. This makes IITD the first academic institute to have obtained ICMR approval for a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay.

IIT’s Ramgopal Rao said the kit made by the institute can be easily scaled up as it does not require fluorescent probes.

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