Dry Swab RT-PCR Covid-19 Test

Dry Swab RT-PCR Covid-19 Test.

Recently, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) has got the permission of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to commercially use the dry swab RNA-extraction free testing method for the Covid-19.

Key Points

About:

Dry swab method has a consistency of 96.9%.

The comparison of conventional (swab-VTM-RNA extraction-RT-PCR) and the simplified (direct elution from dry swab-RT-qPCR) protocols suggested that dry swabs eluted directly into a simple buffered solution can support molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 via endpoint RT-PCR without substantially compromising sensitivity.

Conventional Method:

In the conventional testing method, nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples are collected by sample collection centres from the suspected coronavirus patients. These are then transported to testing centres, sometimes even hundreds of kilometres away.
The nasopharynx is the upper part of the pharynx (throat) behind the nose.
The oropharynx is the middle part of the pharynx just beyond the mouth and includes the back part of the tongue (base of tongue), tonsils, soft palate (back part of the roof of the mouth), and the sides and walls of the throat.
The swab samples are generally placed in a liquid called Viral Transport Medium (VTM) and to avoid leakage, the samples are packed heavily that adds on to sample processing times at both the sample collection and testing centres.
RNA extraction, even with automation, takes four hours for roughly 500 samples. VTM and RNA extraction both add a significant burden on money and time required for mass testing.

New and Simplified Method:

Dry swab technique does not require VTM and RNA extraction process, and can be directly used for RT-PCR testing.
It has the potential of bringing the costs and time of testing by 40-50% and the screening can also be enhanced several-fold with immediate effect while, at the same time, making the whole process safer.
It is easy to implement with no requirement of new kits and existing manpower can perform this with no additional training

RT-PCR Test

Kary Mullis, the American biochemist invented the PCR technique. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1993.
Under the test, copies of a segment of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are created using an enzyme called Polymerase.
The ‘chain reaction’ signifies how the DNA fragments are copied exponentially, where one is copied into two, the two are copied into four, and so on.
A fluorescent DNA binding dye called the “probe” is added to DNA, which shows the presence of the virus on a fluorometer.
Covid-19 is made of RNA (ribonucleic acid), so to detect it, RNA is converted into DNA using a technique called reverse transcription.
Then the copies of the DNA are then made and amplified.

Source: TH

Join Our Telegram

Climate Change Knowledge Portal

Fiscal deficit reaches 120% of annual target

Geopolitical Significance of Ports

20 Dec, 24
SHARE

Geopolitical Significance of Ports (IR) Act as geopolitical assets: Ports enhance the projection of strategic reach, which helps strengthen the country’s control over important sea and energy supply routes. E.g. Indian Navy’s staging base at Agalega Islands will enable marine patrols

SPACE VEHICLE - PSLV & GSLV - Space ORBITS

20 Dec, 24
SHARE

SPACE VEHICLE - PSLV & GSLV - Space ORBITS (S&T) GS PAPER-3 India has one of the world's most effective and active space programmes, with a diverse set of missions and accomplishments in the space sector. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is India's primary space agency located in Bangalore. It has made sign

Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Recently, Prime Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana under which 1 crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. India’s Status of Current Solar Capacity India currently stands at 4th place globally in solar power capacity. As per Ministry of New an

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)- NGO

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month. What is FCRA? Key provisions of FCRA, 2010 Key aspects Description

Voice clone-AI

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Voice clone fraud has been on the rise in India. AI voice cloning – It is the process of creating a synthetic replica of a person’s voice through machine learning and speech synthesis technology.It is called as voice deepfakesor audio deepfakes. Objective – To achieve a high level of na