Combining experts in molecular genetics, chemistry and health sciences , the researchers at the University of California , San Diego have developed a rapid diagnostics technology that detects SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID -19 . The new Sensitive Enzymatic Nucleic Acid Sequence Reporter (SENSR), described in an article published in the journal ACS Sensors, is based on CRISPR gene editing technology, which rapidly detects pathogens by identifying gene sequences in the pathogen's DNA or RNA. In recent times various human pathogens are detected by RT - PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) technique . Although this technique is highly accurate and sensitive, it is time consuming and requires special laboratory equipments thus limiting their usage in medical and professional institutions. SENSR is designed to simplify this process for in-home use .
"SENSR further opens the toolbox for CRISPR diagnostic systems and will help detect emerging pathogens before they become pandemics", said UC San Diego Biological Sciences Professor Omar Akbari, the study's senior author. Initial testing of SENSR has shown detection of the virus within an hour. In this article, the researchers noted that although further development is needed, the technology could become "a powerful molecular diagnostic with multiple applications."
Although the Cas9 enzyme has been widely used in CRISPR genetic engineering studies, scientists have recently developed high-precision CRISPR-based diagnostics using other enzymes such as Cas12a and Cas13a. Developed in a similar vein, SENSR is the first SARSCoV2 diagnostic tool to use the Cas13d enzyme (specifically a ribonuclease effector called "CasRx").Researcher believe that it is necessary to maximize capabilities of CRISPR and expand genetic diagnostics pipeline by studying any Cas enzyme that complements or can complement existing system .
Eventually, Akbari envisions SENSR to play an important role in places like airports, allowing it to quickly determine if passengers are already exposed to the virus.
Journal Reference:
Daniel J. Brogan, Duverney Chaverra-Rodriguez, Calvin P. Lin, Andrea L. Smidler, Ting Yang, Lenissa M. Alcantara, Igor Antoshechkin, Junru Liu, Robyn R. Raban, Pedro Belda-Ferre, Rob Knight, Elizabeth A. Komives, Omar S. Akbari. Development of a Rapid and Sensitive CasRx-Based Diagnostic Assay for SARS-CoV-2. ACS Sensors, 2021; DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c01088
Blog by Gauri Pillai
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