India Narrative

A team of Indian scientists has developed a new technology platform for fluorometric detection of SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) that is more reliable than the existing techniques, according to information provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology.  The technology platform detects viruses by measuring the fluorescent light that is emitted and can also be used to detect other DNA/RNA pathogens such as HIV, influenza, HCV, Zika, Ebola, bacteria, and other mutating pathogens. Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, an autonomous institute of the government, along with scientists from IISc (India Institute of Science), have demonstrated a noncanonical nucleic acid-based G-quadruplex (GQ) topology targeted reliable conformational polymorphism (GQ-RCP) platform to diagnose Covid-19 clinical samples. This work has been published recently in the journal ‘ACS Sensors’ and the team has also filed a patent for the novel technology. Read More  

  The simultaneous spread of the Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus is creating a "tsunami of cases" that continue to put immense pressure on health systems that are already on the brink of collapse, the WHO warned on Wednesday. "Delta and Omicrom are now twin threats driving up cases to record numbers, leading to spikes in hospitalisation and deaths," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference. He said the pressure on health systems was not only due to new coronavirus patients, but also large numbers of health workers falling ill with Covid. The WHO said over 6.5 million cases new cases had been recorded worldwide in the week between Dec 22-28, while the United States and France both registered a record number of daily infections on Wednesday. Tedros said countries must share vaccines more equitably and warned that the emphasis on boosters in richer countries could leave poorer nations short of doses. Read More