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We kit you not!
DRDO has developed a far cheaper H1N1 testing kit, which takes three hours less time to diagnose. It will be available in 2-3 months
Vishakha Sharma
Posted On Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 12:10:17 AM
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In a welcome development for swine flu-ridden Pune, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a new kit for clinical diagnosis of the deadly virus. The kit which is based on real-time LAMP (Loop Mediated Amplification) method is dubbed to be a faster and cost-effective method to diagnose swine flu. The Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE) Gwalior is instrumental in the development of the kit. Speaking to Pune Mirror, Dr R Vijay Raghavan, director DRDE Gwalior, explained, “Our kit is a single tube method which is rapid, cost-effective and indigenously developed. The assay is based on the principle of isothermal gene amplification protocol. No expensive real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) equipment is required and as a result, it can be monitored by the naked eye. It is at par with the already available real-time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction test system approved by the WHO.” Dr Laxman Rao, one of the scientists who developed the new H1N1 kit, said, “We are a team of five scientists who developed this kit in a span of six months. Firstly, it is less time consuming. While other testing kits in the market takes about four hours, this one will take simply an hour to diagnose the disease. Secondly, it is highly cost-effective. The kit is also light and portable and can be used at home too.” Dr Raghavan said, “The sensitivity and specificity of our kit is excellent. We have evaluated our kit in three centers at the National Center for Disease Control Delhi, Post Graduate Institute Chandigarh and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Bangalore.” He added, “We have not worked out its cost, but it should approximately be Rs 2,000. The kit shall be available in about two to three months time.” Manish Bharadwaj, regional PRO of DRDO, said, “This new swine flu kit is going to prove really beneficial. People will save a lot of money and time.” |
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05:16:18 PM