Patna: This Tuesday, the Additional Chief Secretary of Bihar Health department has written a letter to the Union health Ministry seeking permission to set up a Molecular Genome Laboratory at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna.
The secretary has seeked the permission of setting up the laboratory under Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium Programme (INSACOG) that was established last December in our country to detect the new variant of COVID-19 i.e. SARS-CoV-2.
India so far has 10 Molecular Genome Laboratory and soon going to gain 17 more of them as part of INSACOG.
Those of you who don’t know, INSACOG is a consortium of laboratories that screens samples from states and international travellers to understand the spread of SARS-Cov-2 virus.
Talking about a Molecular Genome Laboratory, these laboratories have expertise in DNA and Molecular Genetic testing.
In Bihar, there isn’t any Molecular Genorme Laboratory yet, hence, the additional health secretary has demanded the same.
