IIT Delhi launched low cost COVID-19 test kit
New Delhi, Jul 15 (India Science Wire): According to World Health Organisation (WHO) testing is the
key to combat novel coronavirus. With large population testing in large number is prohibitive in
Indian conditions. Keeping this in mind a low-cost COVID-19 test kit developed by Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Delhi has been launched. According to the researchers the current testing methods
available are “probe-based”, while the one developed by them is a “probe-free” method, which
reduces the testing cost even while the accuracy is not compromised.
Normal RT-PCR technology uses custom-synthesised probe that looks for a specific region of the
particular viral RNA, in this case novel coronavirus. The primer and the probe bind to specific
locations along the specific viral genome...