Development of ultra-sensitivity diagnostic technology based on genetic scissors opens the way for rapid response to infectious diseases
Nov 11, 2024
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The core of this study is to significantly improve the sensitivity of nucleic acid-based detection technology, which is important for early diagnosis of infectious diseases, so that infectious diseases can be diagnosed quickly and accurately in the field. By dramatically improving detection performance with advanced CRISPR gene scissors-based diagnostic technology, the path to more effectively control the spread of infectious diseases is opened.
In this study, a DNA substrate high-affinity variant of the Cas12a gene scissors was developed to dramatically increase diagnostic efficiency while introducing a two-step dilution technique that controls salt concentration during the reaction process, allowing the detection of signals that are more than 40 times higher than the existing method. This technology can be used for rapid diagnosis of various infectious diseases, including the hepatitis B virus proven this time.
The CRISPR gene scissors technology, which won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is the core technology of Kasgebi, the first gene editing-based gene therapy recently approved by the United States and the United Kingdom, and has played an important role in diagnosing infectious diseases as well as gene therapy.
In particular, it has been used as an infectious disease diagnosis technology through the COVID-19 pandemic, and various diagnostic products have been approved by the U.S. FDA. However, the CRISPR-based infectious disease diagnosis technology developed at this time had limitations in detecting a very small amount of viral nucleic acid, so an amplification process such as PCR was required. There was a problem that the speed of on-site diagnosis was slowed due to these complex procedures.
In this regard, the newly developed genetic scissors variant and new technology using salt concentration dilution techniques are expected to solve the problem by enabling rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases without a separate amplification process.
Professor Lee Sang-hwa stated, "This study has dramatically improved the detection performance of CRISPR gene scissors-based diagnostic technology, which is already actively used in molecular diagnostic technologies for various infectious diseases, including the COVID-19 virus, through its own strategy. It will be applied to the field of rapid diagnosis of various infectious diseases in the future."
On the other hand, the research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Research Foundation's gene editing, control, and restoration-based technology development projects, excellent new research support projects, basic laboratory support projects, and the Catholic Central Medical Center's basic medicine project promotion team.
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