On May 26, 2020, The Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu has collaborated with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to develop and increase a new Reverse Transcriptase-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP)- based COVID-19 diagnostic kit. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has also been signed between CSIR-IIIM, Jammu and RIL.
Key Points:
i.COVID-19 RT-LAMP: COVID-19 RT-LAMP test is a nucleic acid-based test carried out from nasal or throat swab samples from patients. This is a rapid test which can be done within 45-60 minutes, a cost-effective and accurate test.
ii.The RT-LAMP test has been developed & successfully demonstrated using synthetic templates.
iii.Advantage: RT-LAMP-based COVID-19 kit components are easily available and completely manufactured in India.
iv.Besides, the RT-LAMP test can be done with minimal expertise in a very basic lab setup like mobile units or kiosks for testing at airports, railway stations, bus stands and other public places.Â
v.The end detection of the test is a simple colored reaction, which is easily visible in UV light, and now is being modified to detect in regular light.
vi.The current COVID-19 testing is done by real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and their components are widely imported. These tests are highly expensive & require highly trained manpower, relatively high-end lab, costly instruments and cannot be deployed at remote locations in quarantine centres, railway stations and airports.
vii.Dr. Ram Vishwakarma, Director and Dr. Sumit Gandhi, Principal Scientist from CSIR-IIIM and Dr. Santanu Dasgupta, Senior Vice President, R&D (Research & Development) and Dr. Manish Shukla, General Manager R&D from RIL is monitoring this project.
viii.IIIM Jammu: Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) is a national Institute of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) of India, with primary focus of research on drug discovery from natural products (medicinal plants and microbial species).
About IIIM(JAMMU)
 Director IIIM Jammu- Dr Ram A Vishwakarma
About Reliance Industries Limited (RIL):
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Founder– Dhirubhai Ambani.
Chairman & Managing Director (MD)– Mukesh Ambani.
