CRISPR-Based Biosensors

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Background

When it comes to CRISPR-Cas, it was first discovered in the 1980s and was recognized as the adaptive immune system for bacteria and archaea against invading foreign DNA and viruses. Since then, it has been demonstrated that CRISPR technology can control gene expression, spatiotemporally image the genome in vivo, and detect specific nucleic acid sequences for diagnostics. In addition, new technologies are under development to improve CRISPR quality controls for gene editing, thereby improving the reliability of these technologies for therapeutics and beyond.

The discovery of CRISPR mediated adaptive immunity and a range of CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas) has not only led to transformative advances in genome editing and revolutionized the field of genome engineering, but also has done this similarly in the space of developing next-generation biosensing. For instance, a new term CRISPR-Dx (CRISPR-based diagnostics) has been coined.

The CRISPR-Cas systems have the potential to achieve dual-task for recognition and transduction by serving as programmable and integrated biomolecular components for sensing. The fast-evolving area of CRISPR-based biosensors takes use of the sequence specificity, programmability, and ease of use of CRISPR technology, and aims to detect a range of targets spanning nucleic acids, bacteria, viruses, parasites as well as non-nucleic acids targets including enzymes, small molecules, transcription factors. The utilization and development of CRISPR-based biosensors highlights the importance of muti-disciplinary contributions to sensing science as an imminent biosensing area. Additionally, with the coming-of-age of CRISPR-Dx, it is time to recollect, rethink and reflect on how this technology can be elaborated in order to overcome ongoing and future challenges.

In this Research Topic we would like to tackle the below questions of:

 Improving detection specificity. Off-target issues in CRISPR-Cas systems need to be minimized to increase biosensor accuracy.
 Improving the detection efficiency (sensitivity) of CRISPR-based biosensors. One-pot detection using preamplification of upstream targets needs to be optimized. Besides, strategies to increase the sensitivity of preamplification-free CRISPR-based biosensing also need to be explored.
 Broadening the detection spectrum of CRISPR-Cas based biosensing, especially for non-nucleic acids;
 Multiplexing capabilities. A robust CRISPR biosensor should be able to screen many different targets simultaneously, especially for timely biosurveillance applications.
 Quantification ability. In many clinical settings, accurate quantification of the biomarker concentration is desirable.
 Improving the usability of CRISPR-based biosensors for practical applications. More efforts for increasing the convenience of use, increasing the speed of testing, and reducing costs need to be done in the future.
 Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted CRISPR-Cas detection;
 Standardization of CRISPR-Cas based detection;
 Applications of CRISPR-Cas based detection in different disciplines or areas.
 CRISPR based DNA/RNA detection

For this Research Topic, we welcome research with different modalities to describe different perspectives on CRISPR-based biosensing systems. Original Research articles, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Methods, and Perspectives are welcomed. Specifically, the following issues are of scientific interest to this Research Topic, but are not limited to:

- The methods of engineering Cas proteins with high target recognition specificities and using bioinformatics algorithms and machine learning based on large-scale experimental datasets to develop more effective design tools for the better prediction of guide RNA performance.
- The methods of optimizing the CRISPR-based one-pot detection to achieve the sensitivity for clinical diagnosis.
- The methods of integrating CRISPR into various biosensing systems including microfluidic technology, newly emerged optical sensing methods, and electrochemical methods to improve the detection sensitivity.
- The methods of comprehensive and simultaneous testing of multiple targets (multiplexing).
- The methods of developing CRISPR-based biosensor with quantification ability.
- Strategies and optimization to improve the ease of use of CRISPR-based biosensor and employ fast and low-cost methods amendable for POC or field applications.
- The applications of AI to tackle unsolved problems in CRISPR-Cas detection, for example, off-target problems or to predict cleavage of nucleic acids, etc.
- Fabricating new CRISPR-Cas based biosensing strategy, apart from fluorescence, colorimetry, electrochemistry, etc.
- The methods of combining with other technologies to further broaden the range of applications for CRISPR-based biosensors, including applications of CRISPR-Cas based detection in more widely not only in bio-medicine (for more biomarkers in cancer, inflammation, etc), but also environmental science, forensic science, food science, etc.
- Development of CRISPR-based biosensing systems and methods for detecting non-nucleic acids targets.

Keywords: CRISPR Biosensor, CRISPR-Cas, CRISPR-Based Diagnostics, Biosensing

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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