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Author Spotlight: Development of Simplified CRISPR-Based Tests for Rapid Detection of Infectious Diseases
Published on: August 16, 2024
CRISPR-based Biosensors for Human Health: A Novel Strategy to Detect Emerging Infectious Diseases
Yawen He1, Qinqin Hu2,3, Samantha San1
1Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Abstract:
Infectious diseases (such as sepsis, influenza, and malaria), caused by various pathogenic bacteria and viruses, are widespread across the world. Early and rapid detection of disease-related pathogens is necessary to reduce their spread in the world and prevent their potential global pandemics. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology, as the next-generation molecular diagnosis technique, holds immense promise in the detection of infectious diseases because of its remarkable advantages, including supreme flexibility, sensitivity, and specificity. While numerous CRISPR-based biosensors have been developed for application in environmental monitoring, food safety, and point-of-care diagnosis, there remains a critical need to summarize and explore their potential in human health. This review aims to address this gap by focusing on the latest advancements in CRISPR-based biosensors for infectious disease detection. We provide an overview of the current status, pre-amplification methods, the unique feature of each CRISPR system, and the design of CRISPR-based biosensing strategies to detect disease-associated nucleic acids. Last but not least, the review analyzes the current challenges and provides future perspectives, which will contribute to developing more effective CRISPR-based biosensors for human health.
Insights
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology offers a sensitive and specific method for detecting infectious diseases. This review explores CRISPR-based biosensors for rapid pathogen identification and discusses future directions for human health applications.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Biotechnology
- Infectious Disease Diagnostics
Background:
- Infectious diseases pose a global health threat, necessitating rapid detection methods.
- Current diagnostic techniques face limitations in speed, sensitivity, or specificity.
- Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology presents a promising next-generation molecular diagnostic tool.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the latest advancements in CRISPR-based biosensors for infectious disease detection.
- To explore the potential of CRISPR technology in human health applications.
- To address the critical need for summarizing CRISPR biosensor development in infectious disease diagnostics.
Main Methods:
- Overview of current CRISPR-based biosensor strategies for pathogen detection.
- Analysis of pre-amplification methods used in CRISPR diagnostics.
- Examination of different CRISPR systems and their unique features.
- Discussion of biosensing designs for detecting disease-associated nucleic acids.
Main Results:
- CRISPR technology demonstrates high flexibility, sensitivity, and specificity for pathogen detection.
- Various CRISPR-based biosensors have been developed for diverse applications.
- This review consolidates current knowledge on CRISPR biosensors for infectious diseases.
Conclusions:
- CRISPR-based biosensors hold significant potential for rapid and accurate infectious disease diagnosis.
- Further research and development are needed to overcome current challenges.
- CRISPR technology is poised to revolutionize infectious disease detection and management in human health.
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