India successfully cultures UK-variant of coronavirus strain: ICMR

NEW DELHI: India has successfully cultured the new coronavirus strain, which originated in the UK, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
In a tweet, the ICMR claimed that no country has yet reported successful isolation and culture of the UK-variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside their natural environment.
“UK-variant of the virus, with all signature changes, is now successfully isolated and cultured at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) from the clinical specimens collected from UK-returnees,” the ICMR said. (AGENCIES)