CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi, has developed a rapid and sensitive method to detect individuals affected from SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, using Mass Spectrometer. This work was done along with NCDC (National Center for Disease Control), Delhi and IIIT (Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology), Delhi.

"The test is rapid -- from samples to results in 30 minutes," says Dr Shantanu Sengupta, a senior scientist at the CSIR-IGIB. "The method is safe since the virus is immediately killed as the swab is collected in a vial containing detergent. It is also accurate since it involves direct detection of the viral peptides, without the requirement of hybridization or amplification, thus reducing the potential of returning false-negative results. Most importantly, the cost of reagents used is very less. This can even off-set the high cost of the mass spectrometer, which can be potentially recovered in 3-4 months."  

There are immense possibilities of deployment of this technology in public/private diagnostic testing centres across the country. The rapid and safe technology can be employed for COVID-detection in airports as well. 

The method was recently published in the Journal of Proteins and Proteomics, the official journal of Proteomics Society, India.

(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42485-020-00044-9?s=04#auth-Hemlata-Lall).