Emerging Frontiers in CRISPR-Based Strategies for the Detection and Degradation of Microplastics

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-based genome engineering is reshaping how environmental contamination can be interrogated and remediated, offering a level of programmability and specificity that conventional physicochemical workflows seldom match. Microplastics polymer fragments below 5 mm that now pervade virtually every ecosystem are especially difficult to monitor and remove because of their chemical heterogeneity, sub-millimeter size, and capacity to adsorb co-pollutants. This review examines how the molecular logic of CRISPR-Cas systems is being repurposed for two complementary goals: sensitive analytical detection and microbially driven degradation of plastic particles. We first outline the biochemistry of Cas-mediated cis- and trans-cleavage that underpins isothermal, amplification-free biosensing, and then survey direct strategies, in which polymer-binding DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) aptamers are coupled to Cas12a (CRISPR-associated protein 12a), alongside indirect strategies that read out the molecular stress signatures provoked by microplastic exposure in sentinel organisms and plastisphere communities. On the remediation side, we discuss how targeted editing, CRISPR interference, and rationally assembled microbial consortia enhance enzymatic depolymerization and redirect carbon flux toward valuable bioproducts. By integrating detection and remediation within a single conceptual framework, we identify the principal bottlenecks, aptamer selectivity in complex matrices, reagent stability under field conditions, and host metabolic burden, and outline research priorities for translating these tools from proof of concept toward deployable environmental technologies.