BSL-3 mobile testing lab in Hyderabad set to screen samples

Hyderabad: A one-of-its-kind virology lab mounted on a mobile container will become operational on the ESI Medical College premises from April 22. This is the first BSL-3 mobile container lab in the country and it can screen 1,000 samples per day.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender stated a few days ago that they were going to add two more sample testing laboratories to the already existing list and this facility at ESI hospital would be one of them.

DRDO has developed this model with the support extended by I Comm and I-clean companies.

This lab was prepared in a record time fulfilling BSL-3 (Bio Safety Level-3) standards. A BSL-2 lab is used to test normal viruses, but the deadly SARS COV-2 virus testing requires BSL-3 lab requirement and, accordingly, this facility was built.

The big advantage with this mobile lab is that it can be shifted easily to any location depending upon emergency as it can be easily loaded onto trucks for shifting.

Besides enabling Covid-19 screening for detection of virus, it can be used for live virus culturing for drug screening, therapeutics (plasm therapy, exosomes, stem cells), diagnostics kits and vaccine development.