Coronavirus: India’s first cutting-edge CRISPR diagnostic test approved by DGCI

India’s first CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) COVID-19 test, developed by the Tata Group and CSIR-IGIB has been approved for use in India, the Ministry of Science and Technology said on Saturday.

The Tata CRISPR test, powered by CSIR-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) FELUDA, received regulatory approvals from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for commercial launch, as per ICMR guidelines, meeting high-quality benchmarks with 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity for detecting the novel coronavirus. This test uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for the detection of the genomic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19). CRISPR is a genome-editing technology to diagnosing diseases.

The Tata CRISPR test is the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially-adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the novel coronavirus. This marks a significant achievement for the Indian scientific community, moving from R&D to a high-accuracy, scalable, and reliable test in less than 100 days, the Ministry said. 

The Tata CRISPR test achieves accuracy levels of traditional RT-PCR tests, with quicker turnaround time, less expensive equipment, and better ease of use. Moreover, CRISPR is a futuristic technology that can also be configured for the detection of multiple other pathogens in the future.

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'Tech reflects tremendous R&D talent'

Commenting on the development, Girish Krishnamurthy, CEO, TATA Medical and Diagnostics Ltd, said, “The approval for the Tata CRISPR test for COVID-19 will give a boost to the country’s efforts in fighting the global pandemic. The commercialization of the Tata CRISPR test reflects the tremendous R&D talent in the country, which can collaborate to transform India’s contributions to the global healthcare and scientific research world.”

Dr. Shekhar C Mande, DG-CSIR complimented the CSIR-IGIB team of scientists and students, TATA Sons and DCGI for the exemplary work and collaboration carried out during the current pandemic leading to the approval of the novel diagnostic kit and paving the path for further innovations towards making India self-reliant.

India has so far detected 53,08,014 COVID-19 cases of which 10,13,964 are under active medical supervision. At the same time, 42,08,431 people have recovered, the highest in the world, while 85,619 people have died. Unlock 4 has been extended till September 30.

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