Role of biotechnology in the development of animal disease diagnostics: A review

The epidemiological scenario of emerging diseases in livestock and its impact on economy is the biggest constraint in rearing domestic animals for food and draught purpose. Control of livestock diseases has been done using available vaccines, but the issue of precise diagnosis is still a concern. What makes the situation rather difficult is the non-availability of infrastructure or facility at the pen-side for quick and accurate diagnosis. It is always been said that ‘a good start is half done’; likewise, a good diagnosis is almost treated or controlled. Moreover, the diagnostic test applicable to the field purpose should have easy operation, clear interpretability of results, cheap, simple, ease of mobility to the site, less maintenance costs, compact size of equipment or requires no equipment (as in Lateral flow assays), precise diagnosis with good diagnostic value (sensitivity, specificity) etc. For a diagnostic assay to fit into these attributes could take more expertise, labour and money in its development and validation, and as of now, there are very few of this kind. Biotechnological tools offer most of these attributes in the development of such diagnostic tools that could fit into the expectations. In the global perspective, the highly contagious transboundary diseases were detected using established techniques, but there is always scope for improvement when it comes to field based diagnostics, since almost all of the current diagnostics recommended by OIE are laboratory based techniques requiring considerable expertise. Nevertheless, with the latest tools like nanotechnology, CRISPR based diagnostic development, lateral flow assays, it has become a reality to develop precise tests with simple interpretable results. At the same time, expertise and training in conducting a specific diagnostic test is inevitable in most cases, due to the weak line in interpretation of diseased and subclinical ones. Many molecular biological techniques like Nucleic acid hybridization, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real time PCR, Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), recombinase based assays, microRNA analysis, Next generation sequencing of RNA/DNA, recombinant protein or peptide based ELISA and many other tests, but all of these requires expertise, proper training, facility, cost, infrastructure, good laboratory practices and governing/certifying bodies (NABL) for their establishment. How to cite this article: Gururaj, K., Pawaiya, R.V.S., Kumar, A., Mishra, A.K., Paul, S., Sharma, N., Rahal, A. and Sharma, D.K. Role of biotechnology in the development of animal disease diagnostics: A review. (2019). Indian J. Vet. Pathol., 43(3): 155–164.