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.
BT - BioEssays DO - 10.1002/bies.202100286 LA - eng N2 -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.
PB - Wiley PY - 2022 EP - 2100286 T2 - BioEssays TI - Potential of the CRISPR‐Cas system for improved parasite diagnosis TT - CRISPR‐Cas mediated diagnosis in parasitic infections UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202100286 SN - 0265-9247, 1521-1878 ER -