CCMB tech to detect Covid gets ICMR nod

By employing the dry swab technique of the CCMB, Covid tests can be immediately scaled up by at least two to three times without any additional resources.

Hyderabad: The dry swab RT-PCR technique to detect Covid-19 developed by Hyderabad-based Centre for the Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has received the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approval on Friday.

By employing the dry swab technique of the CCMB, Covid tests can be immediately scaled up by at least two to three times without any additional resources.

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The technology does not require transportation of the collected samples in a Viral Transport Medium (VTM) and also eliminates the RNA extraction step in the RT-PCR test, which will save time and money. Essentially, the CCMB technique can now handle a large number of samples and go straight to RT-PCR, without wasting hours extracting RNA.

The present RT-PCR technique for Covid-19 diagnosis involves collection of nasopharyngeal swab samples and transporting them to RT-PCR testing centres. The swab samples are placed in a liquid called Viral Transport Medium (VTM) and to avoid leakage, they are packed heavily that adds to the sample processing time at both sample collection and also testing centres.

“Roughly, it takes at least four hours to extract RNA for nearly 500 samples. The VTM and the RNA extraction both result in a lot of expenditure and time consumption. We believe that our technique holds merit for all kinds of settings and has the potential to reduce the costs by 40 per cent to 50 per cent. It is a game-changer because now we can improve the throughput of Covid-19 screening by several fold with immediate effect while, at the same time, making the whole process safer,” said CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra.

 

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