Cas13 and Cas12 diagnostics (SHERLOCK and DETECTR)
Diagnóstico con Cas13 y Cas12 (SHERLOCK y DETECTR)
- Date
- 2017-2018 · confidence high
- Place
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
- Credited to
- Feng Zhang, Jonathan Gootenberg and Omar Abudayyeh (SHERLOCK); Jennifer Doudna and Janice Chen (DETECTR)
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Cas13 and Cas12 cut, in addition to the target RNA or DNA, any nearby nucleic acid; coupled to a labelled reporter molecule, fluorescence signals the virus. This detects traces of pathogens with PCR-like sensitivity in cheap, portable tests.
Gootenberg et al. published SHERLOCK in Science in April 2017 and Chen et al. DETECTR in April 2018; both exploit the “collateral activity” of the nucleases, described for Cas13a in 2016 (Abudayyeh and East-Seletsky).
What it led to
- CRISPR COVID-19 tests authorised by the FDA in 2020
- point-of-care diagnosis of Zika and dengue viruses
- dipstick diagnostic platforms based on CRISPR