ICAR-CIBA, Chennai signed MoU on November 3, 2023 with M/s. D-Nome Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad for collaborative research programme on R&D of innovative point-of-care diagnostics for infectious diseases in aquaculture. The partnership will cover development of field level sensitive diagnostic kits for detection of pathogens like white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), and microsporidian Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) which are globally most prevalent and lethal for shrimp aquaculture industry resulting in severe economic loss.
Dr. Kuldeep K. Lal, Director, ICAR- CIBA, emphasized on the need of simple and cost effective diagnostic kits which can be applied in field without the use of sophisticated equipments enabling farmers to undertake effective measures in controlling the spread of the disease. Dr. Divya Sriram, CEO and CO-founder of D-NOME explained about their experience in developing rapid and affordable diagnosis of rising infectious diseases using molecular techniques.
Team leader of the program, Dr. M.S.Shekhar, Principal Scientist and Head, Aquatic Animal Health and Environment Division, explained the need for thrust on innovations in offering simple and easy disease diagnosis at farm level for adoption of timely management measures for effective control and spread of the diseases.
