The current status and future prospects of CRISPR-based detection of monkeypox virus: A review

The current pandemic of 2022 global mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), caused by infection with monkeypox virus (MPXV), has now reached over 120 countries. This constitutes a critical public health issue requiring effective disease management and surveillance. Rapid and reliable diagnosis is conducive to the control of infection, early intervention, and timely treatment. Clinical laboratories use various conventional diagnostic methods for detecting MPXV, including PCR, which can be regarded as a gold-standard diagnostic method. However, the application of PCR is limited by its requirements for high-cost equipment, skilled professionals, and a laboratory setting.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based diagnostic systems have provided promising prospects for the rapid, sensitive, and specific detection of infectious diseases, especially in point-of-care settings. Over the past 2 years, an increasing number of researchers have concentrated on the application of the CRISPR method to mpox diagnosis. In the majority of cases, a two-step method was chosen, with CRISPR/Cas12a and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) as pre-amplification methods, followed by a fluorescence readout. Different strategies have been applied to overcome the encountered limitations of CRISPR detection, but no consensus on an integrated solution has been achieved. Thus, the application of the CRISPR/Cas system in mpox detection requires further exploration and improvement.

This review discusses contemporary studies on MPXV CRISPR detection systems and the strategies proposed to address the challenges faced by CRISPR diagnosis with the hope of helping the development of CRISPR detection methods and improving pathogen detection technologies.