NEW YORK: Researchers seeking faster, more convenient options for ramping up coronavirus testing are looking at a novel approach using a gene-editing technology called CRISPR and smart phone cameras in place of bulky laboratory equipment.

In a paper published on Friday in Cell, a team that includes Jennifer Doudna - this year’s co-winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry - describes a CRISPR-based Covid test in which the swab sample is mixed with an enzyme called Cas13 that can recognise the genetic material of the new coronavirus, plus an extra molecule that becomes fluorescent when cut.

The mixture is then placed in a device that attaches to smart phones. If the mixture contains genetic material from the virus, the enzyme finds it and slices it _ without time-consuming virus-purification steps other tests require.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2020