- NET Web Desk
In a major development regarding the detection of Omicron, an RT-PCR Kit developed by the Lahowl-based Regional Medical Research Centre of ICMR to detect the new Omicron variant of Covid 19 in two hours has been validated.
Dr B Borkakoty and his team from the Regional Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories, ICMR-RMRC has designed and developed a hydrolysis probe-based RT-PCR for detection of the new Omicron variant and that too just within 2 hours.
The Omicron variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November 2021. On 26 November 2021, the WHO designated it as a variant of concern and named it after omicron, the fifteenth letter in the Greek alphabet.
The variant has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel, and a significant number of which affect the spike protein targeted by most COVID-19 vaccines at the time of discovering the Omicron variant. This level of variation has led to concerns regarding its transmissibility, immune system evasion, and vaccine resistance. As a result, the variant was quickly designated as being “of concern”, and travel restrictions were introduced by several countries in an attempt to slow its international spread.
