The world’s cheapest and highly efficient tuberculosis testing technology has been developed in Dibrugarh by ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, North East. According to reports, the new diagnostic tool, based on a CRISPR case, would came in handy to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a patient’s saliva for a mere Rs 35.
Although tuberculosis remains a very formidable health challenge globally, rating in millions of new cases and deaths annually, there is still a dire need for diagnostic tools that will be accurate, rapid, and affordable. Traditional tools that are in use in TB diagnosis generally lack satisfactory sensitivities, specificities, speeds, or costs. For example, culture methods take up to 42 days to confirm a negative result.
This is now possible with the newly developed, cutting-edge-technology-based CRISPR system. It can detect the TB bacteria at the very first symptoms and test more than 1,500 samples within about two hours. Work on this system is so simple that it can also be used in primary health centers, thus even in remote villages. The capacity to make quick and accurate diagnoses in such settings is a sea change in the battle against TB.
A researcher at the ICMR-RMRC, Lahowal, said about this innovation, “It can identify the bacteria at the earliest symptoms, testing over 1,500 samples simultaneously within approximately two hours. It is so simple that it can be used even in the primary health centre of a village.”
The new system is called the ‘GlowTBPCR Kit’, a system currently based on CRISPR-Cas12a-based molecular diagnostics coupled with an amplification step powered by a thermal cycler, and the so-called ‘RapidGlow device’. This extremely sensitive and low-cost molecular detection system brought a ray of hope to work effectively for TB management, especially in resource-constrained settings.
This clearly reflects the innovative spirit and commitment of local researchers working together with ICMR-RMRCNE to make this technology possible. It not only draws attention to the future use of advanced genetic technologies like CRISPR but underlies that maybe applied in practical and accessible ways that save lives.
This has been an eye-opener in the global medical fraternity and entails huge potential to revolutionize TB diagnosis and treatment. The contribution the ICMR-RMRCNE has made toward making available an affordable, rapid, and accurate tool for diagnosis has been its seminal contribution on its path to public health, especially in those parts of the world where TB is a prevalent health issue.
The new technology from Dibrugarh that tests for TB exemplifies what local innovation can mean instantly to global health. It creates through being one of the blocks in globalization that sustains scientific research and development, more so in regions torn apart by serious health challenges. Its success opens scope for further improvements and leaves a benchmark in the fight against tuberculosis.
While the stranglehold of TB on the world persists, it is the case-based system of TB detection using CRISPR from Dibrugarh that gives a sneak into a future where early, accurate, and really affordable diagnosis can be within everyone’s reach—anywhere they may live. This breakthrough stands as a milestone in the journey toward eradicating TB and improving global health outcomes.
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