‘Feluda Test’ for COVID-19

India has approved Feluda Test for detecting COVID-19.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) launched an accurate and low-cost paper-based test strip to detect COVID-19 in less than 30 minutes for commercial use.
The test has been named as Feluda by the research team of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Tata Group.
Feluda is a fictional private detective from West Bengal created by the writer and filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

Feluda is known as FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay.
It uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to identify and target the genetic material of SARS-CoV2.
The test matches the accuracy levels of RT-PCR tests and is considered as the gold standard in the diagnosis of COVID-19.
It has a quick turnaround time and requires cost-effective equipment.
The US is the first country in the world to approve a CRISPR-based test for COVID-19. This test was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
The Tata’s Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) test powered by CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) Feluda has met the benchmark with 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity for detecting coronavirus.
Feluda is the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specifically adapted Cas9 protein.
To detect SARS-CoV2, the other CRISPR tests uses CAS12 and CAS 13 protein.
The research team created the new test kit while working under the sickle cell mission for genome diagnostics and therapeutics.

CRISPR is a gene-editing technology and is used in correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of the diseases.
It can detect specific sequences of DNA within a gene.
It uses an enzyme functioning as molecular scissors to snip the DNA sequence.
It allows for easy alteration of the DNA sequences and modify gene function.
CRISPR technology can be configured for the detection of multiple pathogens in the future.

The approval of Feluda addresses the urgent need for ramping up testing capacity in the country to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
It is relatively easy to use and is affordable than the expensive RT-PCR machines being used to test the sample.
The short period of 30 minutes for results will also enable faster detection of COVID-19 patients and treatment can be initiated immediately.
The development of the test kit while working on sickle cell mission for genome diagnostics shows the interconnectedness of scientific knowledge and technology.
According to the innovators, the ‘Made in India’ test kit is 100% safe to use and is of high-quality.