CRISPR-Based Diagnostics: Challenges and Potential Solutions toward Point-of-Care Applications

Ahmed Ghouneimy; Ahmed Mahas; Tin Marsic; Rashid Aman; Magdy Mahfouz

doi:10.1021/acssynbio.2c00496

CRISPR-Based Diagnostics: Challenges and Potential Solutions toward Point-of-Care Applications

Ahmed Ghouneimy, Ahmed Mahas, Tin Marsic, Rashid Aman, Magdy Mahfouz^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the conventional diagnostic field and revealed the need for decentralized Point of Care (POC) solutions. Although nucleic acid testing is considered to be the most sensitive and specific disease detection method, conventional testing platforms are expensive, confined to central laboratories, and are not deployable in low-resource settings. CRISPR-based diagnostics have emerged as promising tools capable of revolutionizing the field of molecular diagnostics. These platforms are inexpensive, simple, and do not require the use of special instrumentation, suggesting they could democratize access to disease diagnostics. However, there are several obstacles to the use of the current platforms for POC applications, including difficulties in sample processing and stability. In this review, we discuss key advancements in the field, with an emphasis on the challenges of sample processing, stability, multiplexing, amplification-free detection, signal interpretation, and process automation. We also discuss potential solutions for revolutionizing CRISPR-based diagnostics toward sample-to-answer diagnostic solutions for POC and home use.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Number of pages	16
Journal	ACS Synthetic Biology
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.2c00496
State	Published - Jan 20 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported, in part, by the Smart Health Initiative at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Impact Acceleration Fund (IAF) and (Near Term Grand Challenge) NTGC grants from the KAUST (Innovation and Economic Development) IED to MM. All figures were created using Bioreneder.com .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

Keywords

biosensors
COVID-19
CRISPR
CRISPR-Cas systems
molecular diagnostics
nucleic acid detection
POC diagnostics
SARS-CoV2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biomedical Engineering
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)

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abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the conventional diagnostic field and revealed the need for decentralized Point of Care (POC) solutions. Although nucleic acid testing is considered to be the most sensitive and specific disease detection method, conventional testing platforms are expensive, confined to central laboratories, and are not deployable in low-resource settings. CRISPR-based diagnostics have emerged as promising tools capable of revolutionizing the field of molecular diagnostics. These platforms are inexpensive, simple, and do not require the use of special instrumentation, suggesting they could democratize access to disease diagnostics. However, there are several obstacles to the use of the current platforms for POC applications, including difficulties in sample processing and stability. In this review, we discuss key advancements in the field, with an emphasis on the challenges of sample processing, stability, multiplexing, amplification-free detection, signal interpretation, and process automation. We also discuss potential solutions for revolutionizing CRISPR-based diagnostics toward sample-to-answer diagnostic solutions for POC and home use.",

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CRISPR-Based Diagnostics: Challenges and Potential Solutions toward Point-of-Care Applications

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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