CSIR-IGIB and TATA Sons sign MoU for licensing ‘KNOWHOW’ for rapid diagnosis of COVID-19
- An MoU was signed between Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) constituent lab, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and TATA Sons for licensing of ‘KNOWHOW’ for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay (FELUDA) for rapid diagnosis of Covid19.
- It includes the transfer of the knowledge for scaling up the ‘KNOWHOW’ in the form of a kit that can be deployed for Covid-19 testing on ground as early as the end of May.
ABOUT FLEUDA
- It is a completely indigenous scientific invention and has been designed for mitigating the ongoing Covid-19 situation and cater to mass testing.
- It is a paper-based test strip that detects the latest coronavirus in an hour.
- It has been developed by a team led by two scientists of Bengali descent, Dr. Souvik Maiti and Dr. Debojyoti Chakraborty, at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) of the Council of Science & Industrial Research in New Delhi.
- The test is based on state-of-the-art gene-editing tool-Crispr-Cas9 to target and identify genomic sequences of the novel coronavirus in suspected individual samples.
- It uses a specifically designed PCR reaction to amplify the part of the viral nucleic acid sequence. The FnCAS9 binds the sequence.
- It costs less than 500.
- It has been named after Satyajit Ray’s popular fictional detective, ‘Feluda.’
ABOUT CSIR
- An autonomous body with the largest research and development organisation in
- Director General -Shekhar C. Mande
ABOUT IGIB
- Scientificresearch institute devoted primarily to biological research and is a part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India.
- Director- Anurag Agrawal
- Established-1977
ABOUT TATA Sons
- Tata sons HQ- Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Founded-1868
- Key people– Tata family, Ratan Tata, Pallonji Mistry, and Cyrus Mistry
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