{"id":31966,"date":"2025-04-13T08:06:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T02:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=31966"},"modified":"2025-04-16T18:10:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T12:40:38","slug":"rt-lamp-assay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/rt-lamp-assay\/","title":{"rendered":"rt-LAMP Assay"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>rt-LAMP Assay Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram, have successfully developed a novel, indigenous, real-time LAMP (rt-LAMP) assay for the early detection of Tuberculosis (TB).<\/p>\n<h2>What is the rt-LAMP Assay?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>rt-LAMP assay<\/strong> is a <strong>molecular diagnostic tool<\/strong> similar to <strong>GeneXpert<\/strong> and <strong>Truenat<\/strong>, providing <strong>high sensitivity and specificity<\/strong>. It can detect <strong>TB DNA<\/strong> even when only <strong>10 copies per microlitre<\/strong> are present, enabling <strong>early-stage diagnosis<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Unlike RT-PCR, which requires <strong>three different temperature cycles<\/strong>, **rt-LAMP works at a <strong>single temperature<\/strong>, simplifying the testing process.<\/li>\n<li>The test uses <strong>six primers<\/strong> for DNA amplification (compared to two in RT-PCR), ensuring <strong>faster and more specific detection<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The researchers used a <strong>fluorescent dye (Syto 16)<\/strong>\u2014commonly used in cell biology\u2014which does not inhibit the reaction, <strong>solving the long-standing issue of false negatives<\/strong> in earlier LAMP tests.<\/li>\n<li>Results can be detected in <strong>10\u201320 minutes<\/strong>, significantly reducing diagnostic time compared to RT-PCR.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Regulatory Status<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The rt-LAMP assay has been <strong>licensed to the industry<\/strong> for production.<\/li>\n<li>It has received <strong>approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)<\/strong> is currently <strong>validating the technology<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>World Health Organization\u2019s Health Technology Access Pool (HTAP)<\/strong> also evaluates the test, pending ICMR validation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Significance for India\u2019s TB Control Strategy<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>As of <strong>2023<\/strong>, around <strong>79% of presumptive TB cases<\/strong> in India were still being diagnosed using <strong>sputum smear microscopy<\/strong>, while <strong>only 21%<\/strong> used <strong>molecular tests<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Despite the rise in molecular testing labs (from <strong>5,090 in 2022<\/strong> to <strong>6,496 in 2023<\/strong>), India still falls <strong>short of the targets set under the National Strategic Plan (2017\u20132025)<\/strong> to reduce reliance on smear microscopy.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>indigenous rt-LAMP assay<\/strong> could help <strong>bridge the diagnostic gap<\/strong>, by providing a <strong>low-cost, rapid, scalable<\/strong>, and <strong>accurate alternative<\/strong> to outdated smear techniques.<\/li>\n<li>It supports the <strong>National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP)<\/strong> by enabling <strong>faster case detection<\/strong>, reducing disease transmission, and <strong>improving public health outcomes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>rt-LAMP Assay FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1:<\/strong> What is the rt-LAMP Assay?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (rt-LAMP) is a rapid molecular diagnostic technique to detect RNA pathogens (e.g., viruses) by amplifying genetic material at a constant temperature, eliminating the need for complex thermal cycling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2:<\/strong> How is rt-LAMP significant for public health?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> It enables quick, low-cost detection of diseases like COVID-19 and dengue in resource-limited settings, delivering results in 30\u201360 minutes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3:<\/strong> What are its advantages over PCR?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans:<\/strong> It requires minimal equipment, has faster results, and works without RNA extraction, making it suitable for rural and field diagnostics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/indigenous-tb-test-can-enhance-accuracy-speed-up-testing\/article69439931.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The RT-LAMP assay, like GeneXpert and Truenat, detects TB DNA with high sensitivity\u2014even at 10 copies\/\u03bcL\u2014enabling early and accurate diagnosis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}