Feluda Test

Feluda is the acronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay.
It is an accurate and low-cost paper-based test strip to detect Covid-19 and can deliver a result in 45 minutes.
Developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Tata Group.

How does it work?

It uses indigenously developed CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Significance:

According to CSIR, the test matches the accuracy levels of RT-PCR tests.
‘Feluda’ is also the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the virus.

Source: TH

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GS-III :

12 May, 2020
4 Min Read

Feluda Test

Feluda Test

Part of: GS-III- S&T (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Recently, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) has developed India’s first paper strip test for Covid-19 namely, ‘Feluda’.

Imp Points

Description:
- The Feluda is a paper strip test that detects the coronavirus in an hour.
- Feluda is an acronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection.
- It is expected to help to fulfil an urgent need of the rapid testing in India.
- It is the first such indigenous test kit to be developed in India based on Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology.
  - CRISPR is a gene editing technology, which replicates natural defence mechanisms in bacteria to fight virus attacks, using a special protein called Cas9.
  - CRISPR-Cas9 technology behaves like a cut-and-paste mechanism on DNA strands that contain genetic information. The specific location of the genetic codes that need to be changed, or edited, is identified on the DNA strand, and then, using the Cas9 protein, which acts like a pair of scissors, that location is cut off from the strand.
  - A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to repair itself. Scientists intervene during this auto-repair process, supplying the desired sequence of genetic codes that binds itself with the broken DNA strand.
Comparison to the RT-PCR Test:
- Working Principle: The Feluda test uses the gene-editing tool-Crispr-Cas9 to target and identify genomic sequences of the novel coronavirus in suspected individual samples.
  - RT-PCR test (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) detects the virus genetic material, which is the Ribonucleic acid (RNA) .
- Cost: The Feluda test will cost less than Rs.500 compared to Rs. 4500 for the real-time PCR test which is currently being used for Covid-19 diagnosis in India.
- Required Medical Machinery: The Feluda test also does not rely on expensive real-time PCR machines for RNA isolation, DNA conversion, and amplification which are already in limited supply in the country.

Source: FE

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