Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases by CRISPR/Cas System

Since the initial discovery of the CRISPR system in bacteria as an adaptive immune system, a deeper understanding of CRISPR structure and function has made it possible to perform gene editing, gene therapy, and revolutionize the diagnostic field. One of the exciting applications of the CRISPR-Cas system is used as a tool for the rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases and their treatment and the prevention of infection spread among people. The CRISPR-based diagnostic system could be the next-generation standard because of its programmability and capability of searching for the target sequence quickly, making it possible to diagnose infections at a lower cost but with the same accuracy as conventional methods. In this review, the data were collected from valid papers published in PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, GISAID, Wiley Online Library, Web of Science, and ResearchGate databases. We have discussed novel applications of CRISPR in the diagnosis of various infectious diseases that could be routinely used soon.