Context:
Kerala gets ICMR approval to conduct Truenat test to detect Nipah virus.
About Truenat:
- A chip-based rapid molecular test for diagnosis of infectious diseases.
- This technology relies on Taqman RTPCR (Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction).
- It can be conducted using the portable, battery-operated Truelab Real Time micro PCR platform.
- Designed and produced by Molbio Diagnostics Private Limited, a company based in Goa.
- The Truenat test was incorporated in India’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme
- Some of the diseases diagnosed using Truenat test – Tuberculosis, Covid 19, Nipah, etc.
Andhra Pradesh is the first state to use Truenat as a frontline tool for TB detection at Primary Health Centre level.
About Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR):
- A laboratory technique for rapidly producing (amplifying) millions to billions of copies of a specific segment of DNA, which can then be studied in greater detail.
- PCR involves using short synthetic DNA fragments called primers to select a segment of the genome to be amplified, and then multiple rounds of DNA synthesis to amplify that segment.
Source: The Hindu
Previous year question
With reference to recent developments regarding ‘Recombinant Vector Vaccines’, consider the following statements:
1. Genetic engineering is applied in the development of these vaccines.
2. Bacteria and viruses are used as vectors.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2021 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c)
Recombinant Vector Vaccines:
They are genetically modified and involve the use of genetic engineering to mimic the actual virus for which the vaccine is being produced. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
Recombinant vector vaccines are live replicating viruses that are engineered to carry extra genes derived from a pathogen—and these extra genes produce proteins against which we want to generate immunity. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
