CSIR's new generation kit to test 50,000 samples in one go

New Delhi: In a major development that may help in doubling the testing capacity from existing one lakh to two lakh tests in a day, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed a new generation testing kit that would help in testing about 50,000 samples at one go.

The diagnostic kit christened as new generation sequencing testing kit has been developed by CSIR's Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) – a premier research organisation in frontier areas of modern biology.

The new generation testing kit is completely different from the pooled RT-PCR testing kits as in the sequencing testing kits, any positive sample among the thousands of samples can be identified without testing all the samples separately. While in the pooled RT-PCR test, if ten samples are mixed and one of them is positive, then all ten samples have to be examined separately.

According to a senior CSIR official, the new testing kit will play a significant role in the surveillance of COVID-19 suspects. "The kit would prove to be a very important tool in identifying any potential containment zone having a higher prevalence of coronavirus cases. It can be best used for the purpose of surveying the disease at a faster rate," the CSIR official said, adding that it would very cost-effective too.

Explaining about the procedure of new testing kit, the official said, "In the new test, next-generation sequencing of RNA is done by taking swab samples of COVID-19 suspects which help in conducting thousands of tests at one go."

According to the CCMB's director Dr Rakesh Mishra, the next generation testing kit is similar to the pooled testing, but it's more comprehensive and its sensitivity is more accurate. "Even though 20-25 samples are tested in pooled testing, there are chances of getting inaccurate test reports, while in next-generation testing kits, there are least chances of any 'false' report as it diagnoses the samples with RNA sequencing test."

As per the official, the new kit would be available for the commercial use in a month as there are some procedural formalities that will take maximum one-month to get completed. "The CCM is in talks with a Bangalore-based company to bring this testing kit in the open market. Besides, the process of certification and approval from the ICMR is in progress," the official said.