Priorities have continued to shift when it comes to curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 – from national lockdowns to mass testing. Recently, rapid mass testing has been proposed as the key to fully reopening communities across the US – but this is easier said than done; rapidly identifying asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and symptomatic carriers still presents a challenge.
Researchers from Gladstone Institutes, the University of California San Francisco, and the University of California Berkeley recognized this need and developed a CRISPR-Cas13a assay that uses a smartphone camera to directly detect SARS-CoV-2 from nasal swab RNA (1). The test avoids the need for amplification, facilitating point-of-care use, and returns accurate results in under 30 minutes.
“One reason we’re excited about CRISPR-based diagnostics is the potential for quick, accurate results at the point of need,” said Jennifer Doudna (2), a collaborator on the study and winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her co-discovery of CRISPR-Cas genome editing. “This is especially helpful in places with limited access to testing or when frequent, rapid testing is needed. It could eliminate a lot of the bottlenecks we’ve seen with COVID-19.”
But the test not only detects the presence of COVID-19, it also measures the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 – as low as ∼30 copies/μL. “When coupled with repeated testing, measuring viral load could help determine whether an infection is increasing or decreasing,” said UC Berkeley bioengineer Daniel Fletcher (2). “Monitoring the course of a patient’s infection could help healthcare professionals estimate the stage of infection and predict, in real time, how long is likely needed for recovery.”
Newsletters
Receive the latest pathologist news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.
References
- P Fozouni et al., Cell, [Online ahead of print] (2020). PMID: 33306959.
- Gladstones Institute (2020). Available at: https://bit.ly/2KgOjpD.
