Development and evaluation of a rapid CRISPR-based diagnostic for COVID-19.

• Main Authors: Tieying Hou, Weiqi Zeng, Minling Yang, Wenjing Chen, Lili Ren, Jingwen Ai, Ji Wu, Yalong Liao, Xuejing Gou, Yongjun Li, Xiaorui Wang, Hang Su, Bing Gu, Jianwei Wang, Teng Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-08-01
• Series: PLoS Pathogens
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008705

The recent outbreak of human infections caused by SARS-CoV-2, the third zoonotic coronavirus has raised great public health concern globally. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of this novel pathogen posts great challenges not only clinically but also technologically. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) have been the most commonly used molecular methodologies. However, each has their own limitations. In this study, we developed an isothermal, CRISPR-based diagnostic for COVID-19 with near single-copy sensitivity. The diagnostic performances of all three technology platforms were also compared. Our study aimed to provide more insights into the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2, and also to present a novel diagnostic option for this new emerging virus.