“Dipcovan Kit” -DRDO develops Antibody Detection Kit

Contents

• 1
• 2 What is the News?
• 3 About Dipcovan Kit:
• 4 About ELISA:

What is the News?

Defense Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) has developed a Covid-19 antibody detection kit named Dipcovan.

About Dipcovan Kit:

• Firstly, Dipcovan kit is a Covid-19 antibody detection kit. Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences lab of DRDO developed it in association with Delhi’s Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.
• Secondly, Purpose: Its primary purpose is to detect antibodies. It will also be used in Covid-19 epidemiology studies such as serosurveys.
  • Antibodies are protective proteins produced by the immune system to attack antigens. The antigen is a toxin or other foreign substance that induces an immune response in the body.
• Thirdly, How does it work? DIPCOVAN is a DIPAS-VDx Covid-19 IgG antibody microwell ELISA. The kit can detect both spikes and nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97% and specificity of 99%.
• Fourthly, the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) has approved the detection kit .
• Fifthly, Significance: The kit offers a significantly faster turn-around time. It requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross-reactivity with other diseases. It also has a shelf life of 18 months.

About ELISA:

• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA) is a test that detects and measures antibodies in the blood.
• The usage of the test includes determining antibodies related to certain infectious conditions.
• Some examples include HIV which causes AIDS, Rotavirus, Zika virus, Lyme disease among others.

Source: Indian Express