The Hindu Business Line : This DNA chip can catch eye disease pathogens

Hyderabad, Dec. 22An indigenously-developed DNA Chip which can pinpoint the culprit organism that is causing a particular eye disease in the shortest possible time has hit the commercial market.

Bangalore-based XCyton Diagnostics has launched the DNA macro chip, a molecular diagnostic kit, for identifying a range of pathogens causing eye diseases in the country recently.

The Managing Director of XCyton, Dr B.V. Ravi Kumar, said the company has created a Rs 3-crore facility in Bangalore to develop a range of DNA-based diagnostic products using this new platform. Work is on to develop a Deoxyribonucleac Acid (DNA)-based kit to detect Septecemia and a range of fevers like dengue, chikungunya, and typhoid, wherein early detection of the virus was key to managing the disease.

Awareness programme

XCyton, a product development company in human diagnostics, which has brought several diagnostic products for HIV, and Hepatitis C among others, has launched an awareness programme for doctors and clinicians on the new product. It is offering services to laboratories as well, Dr Ravi told Business Line.

Scientists from the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) along with clinicians at the L V Prasad Eye Institute, both in Hyderabad; from Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, and the RP Centre, New Delhi, have under the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) programme of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), developed the DNA based diagnostic chip.

According to Dr Ch Mohan Rao, Deputy Director of CCMB, eye infections are the major causes of eye diseases and subsequent impairment of vision. Most of these diseases are curable, provided the infecting agent is identified at an early stage.

Common method

At present, the widely used method for detecting the infecting organisms is microbial culture. However, this process is time-consuming and the results are not immediately available to clinicians for making treatment decisions, he said.

Scientists have exploited the fact that by deploying the PCR method it is possible to detect the unique regions on a pathogen’s DNA, which can then be used as a signature. PCR methods are more sensitive and rapid.

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