Low-cost ‘Feluda’ test kit detects Covid in one hour

New Delhi: CSIR-IGIB scientists have developed a quick paper strip Covid-19 testing kit “Feluda” with 90% accuracy that gives results in one hour. The cost of the first-of-its-kind test kit would be less than Rs 1,000. The name of the testing kit “Feluda” is based on a fictional detective created by the late Satyajit Ray. The test uses CRISPER gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of Sars-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The test has been developed by senior scientists Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty and Dr Souvik Maiti at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB).

“Feluda stands for FnCas9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay. It detects active Covid-19 infection by using a CRISPR CAS 9 based readout on a paper strip. RNA to detection takes place in less than one hour,” said Dr Souvik Maiti, Senior Scientist, CSIR-IGIB. “It doesn’t require real-time PCR machine, will be cheap and can be performed at point of care settings where a simple PCR machine is present,” said Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty, Senior Scientist, CSIR-IGIB. This is the only Covid-19 testing kit that has been developed using CRISPER-based technology in India.