Indian Scientists’ Paper-Strip Test Only Takes Minutes To Detect COVID-19

As India continues its fight against COVID-19, there is an urgent need for testing kits that can deliver results quickly.

Now, thanks to two Bengali-origin scientists and famous fictional detective Eluda of filmmaker Satyajit Ray, the problem might have been solved.

Dr. Debojyoti Chakraborty and Dr. Souvik Maiti from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research in New Delhi have developed a paper-strip test to detect COVID-19. The test reportedly takes minutes to give results. The team named the test after Fedula, the famous fictional Bengali detective.

Fedula could be the answer to the dire need for rapid-testing of India. A report indicates that the test targets and identifies the novel coronavirus’ genomic sequences in the samples using the most advanced gene-editing tool called Crispr-Cas9.

In an interview, Dr. Debjyoti Chakraborty said that his team had been working on this invention for about two years. In late January when the COVID-19 reached its peak in China, they started testing to see if it could be used for COVID-19 detection. And the work took them another two months.

The testing might also be cheap. At the moment, the RT-PCR test is used for COVID-19 testing. However, it requires equipment costing lakhs of rupees. The price for a test at a private lab is Rs 4,500 while the “Feluda” test might only cost Rs 500.

General Shekhar C. Mande, CSIR Director, said that the strip would look similar to a pregnancy test trip. No specialized machines and skills would be needed as the strip would change its color. The most important thing is that it would have an accuracy rate of 100%.

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