ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 19 April. Click Here for more information.
ForumIAS Answer Writing Focus Group (AWFG) for Mains 2024 commencing from 24th June 2024. The Entrance Test for the program will be held on 28th April 2024 at 9 AM. To know more about the program visit: https://forumias.com/blog/awfg2024
News: Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kharagpur has launched a Covid-19 test called ‘COVIRAP’.
Facts:
- COVIRAP: It is a cuboid-shaped portable testing device that can deliver results in an hour making it an effective tool to scale up Covid-19 screening in peripheral and rural areas.
- Benefits of COVIRAP:
- Economical: It is a cheaper and quicker process when compared to RT-PCR test (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction).
- Easier to Handle:The test unit can be handled by unskilled operators outside the lab environment.
- High Accuracy: It correctly detected 108 out of the 115 positive samples identified by an RT-PCR machine meaning that it has a 94% sensitivity and 98% specificity in comparison to RT-PCR (i.e lower than RT-PCR).
Additional Facts:
- RT-PCR: It is the most commonly used one for Covid-19.It is primarily based on Polymerase chain reaction(PCR), a process that repeatedly copies and amplifies the specific genetic fragments of the virus ensuring that there is enough of a sample to conduct the analysis.
- Feluda: It is a low cost paper strip test developed by CSIR’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology(IGIB) which can detect the presence of coronavirus within an hour.
- It uses the gene editing tool CRISPR-CAS9 to target and identify the genome sequences of the novel coronavirus in the samples of suspected individuals.
- Corosure: It is a low-cost RT-PCR Covid-19 test kit developed by IIT Delhi.
