Virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale creates Covid-19 testing kit for Rs 1200
So far nearly 1,000 people have been infected due to Coronavirus in India. At the same time, the death toll has also gone up. All are playing their respective roles in fighting the war against the virus. Meanwhile, in a much welcome news an Indian woman virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosle has prepared a testing kit for just Rs. 1200, which is much cheaper than the foreign kit. Through this, the suspects will be detected very soon. Its first batch will also be available in the market on Monday. Minal told the full story of preparing the kit in an interview to BBC.
Testing kit prepared for Rs. 1200, could save countless lives
The price of foreign testing kits presently in the market is Rs 4,500. At the same time, the kit prepared by women scientist Minal Dakhave Bhosle costs only Rs. 1200. “Our kit can detect corona virus infection within two and a half hours, while the kit from abroad takes six to seven hours to test,” she said. More amazing fact is that Minal has prepared India’s first working test kit by working continuously till a few hours before giving birth to her child.
One kit capable of 100 samples
Pune’s MyLab Discovery is the first firm in India to be allowed to manufacture and sell testing kits. Minal is the Chief Virologist, Research and Development in this lab. Each Mylab kit can test up to 100 samples. “Our kit can detect corona virus infection within two and a half hours, while testing from a kit coming from abroad takes six to seven hours.”
Testing kits will be available in the market by Monday
The company’s director of medical affairs, Dr. Gautam Wankhede, said, “Our manufacturing unit is also working on this weekend, we will send the next shipment on Monday.” The company also claims that it will supply one lakh Kovid-19 test kits within a week and can produce two lakh testing kits if needed.
Team of 10 scientists worked on this kit
According to Minal, her team of 10 scientists worked hard to make the project a success. On 18 March, she submitted the testing kit to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) for examination. The same evening she sent the proposal of this kit to the Food and Drugs Control Authority of India (CDSCO) for commercial permission.
Kit tested on different parameters
Before being sent to test the kit, the team tested this parameter several times to get accurate results. Minal Bhosle says, ‘If you have to do 10 tests of a sample, then the results of all ten tests should be the same. We have achieved this perfection. Our kit is perfect. ‘ The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India has upheld the MyLab kit.
