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Published on: April 25, 2025
CRISPR/Cas and Argonaute-Based Biosensors for Pathogen Detection
Zhiruo Yang1, Siying Mao1, Lu Wang1
1Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard identification and Control, School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430065, PR China.
Abstract:
Over the past few decades, pathogens have posed a threat to human security, and rapid identification of pathogens should be one of the ideal methods to prevent major public health security outbreaks. Therefore, there is an urgent need for highly sensitive and specific approaches to identify and quantify pathogens. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats CRISPR/Cas systems and Argonaute (Ago) belong to the Microbial Defense Systems (MDS). The guided, programmable, and targeted activation of nucleases by both of them is leading the way to a new generation of pathogens detection. We compare these two nucleases in terms of similarities and differences. In addition, we discuss future challenges and prospects for the development of the CRISPR/Cas systems and Argonaute (Ago) biosensors, especially electrochemical biosensors. This review is expected to afford researchers entering this multidisciplinary field useful guidance and to provide inspiration for the development of more innovative electrochemical biosensors for pathogens detection.
Insights
Rapidly identifying pathogens is crucial for public health security. This review compares CRISPR/Cas systems and Argonaute (Ago) for developing advanced pathogen detection biosensors.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Biosensor Technology
Background:
- Pathogen detection is critical for preventing public health crises.
- Existing methods require highly sensitive and specific pathogen identification approaches.
- Microbial Defense Systems (MDS) like CRISPR/Cas and Argonaute (Ago) offer novel solutions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare CRISPR/Cas systems and Argonaute (Ago) for pathogen detection.
- To review the similarities and differences between these two nucleases.
- To discuss future prospects for CRISPR/Cas and Ago-based biosensors, particularly electrochemical biosensors.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of CRISPR/Cas and Argonaute (Ago) mechanisms.
- Literature review on microbial defense systems and biosensor applications.
- Exploration of electrochemical biosensor development for pathogen detection.
Main Results:
- CRISPR/Cas and Ago are programmable nucleases from Microbial Defense Systems.
- Both systems enable guided, targeted activation for pathogen identification.
- Electrochemical biosensors show promise for sensitive and specific pathogen detection.
Conclusions:
- CRISPR/Cas and Ago represent a new generation of pathogen detection tools.
- Further development of CRISPR/Cas and Ago-based electrochemical biosensors is needed.
- This review provides guidance for researchers in the field of pathogen detection biosensors.
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