ICMR Dibrugarh Develops Kit That Can Identify Omicron Variants in 2 Hours

GUWAHATI: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has developed a diagnostic kit that can detect the Omicron type of the coronavirus in a matter of hours.

The diagnostic kit was created by a team of researchers from the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) for the Northeast area, lead by scientist Dr Biswajyoti Borkakoty. This can identify the Omicron variation in two hours from a sample.

On Saturday, Dr Borkakoty claimed, "ICMR-RMRC, Dibrugarh has conceived and developed a hydrolysis probe-based real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of the novel Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) that can identify the new variation within 2 hours."

"This is significant since, at the moment, efforts on the part take at least 36 hours and whole-genome analysis takes at least 4 to 5 days to find the variation," he noted. GCC Biotech, a Kolkata-based firm, is producing the kit under a public-private partnership (PPP) approach. "The kit was evaluated against Omicron variant SARS-CoV-2 synthetic gene pieces inside two highly specific unique areas of the spike protein, as well as wild type control synthetic gene fragments. According to ANI, "internal validation has confirmed that the tests are 100 per cent correct."

In July last year, a team of scientists led by Borkakoty succeeded in isolating the SARS-CoV-2 virus, making ICMR-RMRC Dibrugarh the nation's third government facility to do so. The kit was created at a time when Omicron cases have been detected in various places throughout the country. The new variation has been recorded in Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat, bringing the total number of illnesses to 33. 

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