AUTHOR=Chen Bing , Li Ya , Xu Feng , Yang Xiaonan 

TITLE=Powerful CRISPR-Based Biosensing Techniques and Their Integration With Microfluidic Platforms

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.851712

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2022.851712

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=In the fight against the worldwide pandemic COVID-19, simple, rapid, and sensitive tools for nucleic acids detection are in urgent need. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been a classic method for nucleic acids detection with high sensitivity and specificity. However, this method still has essential limitations due to the dependent on thermal cycling, which requires costly equipment, professional technicians, and long turnover times. Currently, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) based biosensors have been developed as powerful tools for nucleic acids detection. Moreover, the CRISPR method can be performed at physiological temperature, meaning that it is easy to assemble into point-of-care devices. Microfluidic chips hold promises to integrate sample processing and analysis on a chip, reducing the consumption of sample and reagent, and increasing the detection throughput. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the development of CRISPR-based biosensing techniques and their perfect combination with microfluidic platforms. New opportunities and challenges for the improvement of specificity and efficiency signal amplification are outlined. Furthermore, their various applications in health care, animal husbandry, agriculture and forestry, are discussed.