AUTHOR=Ding Ronghua , Long Jinzhao , Yuan Mingzhu , Jin Yuefei , Yang Haiyan , Chen Mengshi , Chen Shuaiyin , Duan Guangcai TITLE=CRISPR/Cas System: A Potential Technology for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 and Emerging Infectious Diseases JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.639108 DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.639108 ISSN=2235-2988 ABSTRACT=

The continued global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a serious threat to global public health and social stability and it has become a serious global public health problem. Unfortunately, existing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the prevention and control of COVID-19 have many shortcomings. In recent years, the emerging CRISPR/Cas technology can complement the problems of traditional methods. Biological tools based on CRISPR/Cas systems have been widely used in biomedicine. In particular, they are advantageous in pathogen detection, clinical antiviral therapy, drug, and vaccine development. Therefore, CRISPR/Cas technology may have great potential for application in the prevention and control of COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases in the future. This article summarizes the existing applications of CRISPR/Cas technology in infectious diseases with the aim of providing effective strategies for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases in the future.