CRISPR-Cas9 Technology for Medical Diagnostics

CRISPR-Cas9 is a paradigm shift in the molecular diagnostics field that goes beyond its beginnings as a gene editing technology to become a radically new diagnostic platform. The review discusses the history and uses of CRISPR-based diagnostics in infectious diseases, oncology and genetic screening. CRISPR systems offer explicit, customizable, and molecular recognition features, which can be applied to create efficient, quick, and economical diagnostic systems. The combination of such technologies is one that will bring democratized, universally available molecular diagnostics, and change healthcare in resource-abundant and resource-constrained contexts, and eventually makes CRISPR a foundation of precision diagnostics.