01715nas a2200193   4500000000100000008004100001260001000042653005700052100001000109700001400119700001700133700001000150700001500160245007300175856006800248300001200316520116800328022002501496       2022                            d  bWiley10aGeneral Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology1 aYou H1 aGordon CA1 aMacGregor SR1 aCai P1 aMcManus DP00aPotential of the CRISPR‐Cas system for improved parasite diagnosis  uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202100286  a21002863 a<p>CRISPR-Cas technology accelerates development of fast, accurate, and portable diagnostic tools, typified by recent applications in COVID-19 diagnosis. Parasitic helminths cause devastating diseases afflicting 1.5 billion people globally, representing a significant public health and economic burden, especially in developing countries. Currently available diagnostic tests for worm infection are neither sufficiently sensitive nor field-friendly for use in low-endemic or resource-poor settings, leading to underestimation of true prevalence rates. Mass drug administration programs are unsustainable long-term, and diagnostic tools – required to be rapid, specific, sensitive, cost-effective, and user-friendly without specialized equipment and expertise – are urgently needed for rapid mapping of helminthic diseases and monitoring control programs. We describe the key features of the CRISPR-Cas12/13 system and emphasise its potential for the development of effective tools for the diagnosis of parasitic and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a key recommendation of the NTDs 2021–2030 roadmap released by the World Health Organization.</p>
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