A new ‘saline gargle RT-PCR method’ has been designed to make testing simpler, economical and time saving, which is said to yield results in three hours. The method has been endorsed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Scientists at the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri), under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), have made path breaking move in their ongoing Covid-related research by creating the non-invasive RT-PCR method.
ICMR has approved Neeri promptly to deploy its expert teams to train staff of numerous laboratories regarding the novel method across the nation.
As per the method, a patient is instructed to gargle a saline solution and spit into a simple collection tube. This sample in the collection tube is then sent for test to a laboratory where it is stored at room temperature in a special buffer solution. An RNA template is produced when the solution is heated, which later is collected and processed for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
This procedure is said to be cheap and noninvasive in comparison to the expensive infrastructural required for RNA extraction.
“People can also test themselves since this method allows for self-sampling. It requires no queuing up or crowding at testing centres, thus saving a lot of time and reducing the risk of infections. Even waste generation stands minimised in this method,” said Dr Krishna Khairnar, senior scientist, environmental virology cell, Neeri, on 28th in a media interaction.
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