Chimeric crRNA improves CRISPR-Cas12a specificity in the N501Y mutation detection of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Mu variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Yang, Jun; Barua, Nilakshi; Rahman, Md Nannur; Lo, Norman; Tsang, Tsz Fung; Yang, Xiao; Chan, Paul K S; Zhang, Li et al. · PLoS One · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Many CRISPR/Cas platforms have been established for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. But the detection platform of the variants of SARS-CoV-2 is scarce because its specificity is very challenging to achieve for those with only one or a few nucleotide(s) differences. Here, we report for the first time that chimeric crRNA could be critical in enhancing the specificity of CRISPR-Cas12a detecting of N501Y, which is shared by Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Mu variants of SARS-CoV-2 without compromising its sensitivity. This strategy could also be applied to detect other SARS-CoV-2 variants that differ only one or a few nucleotide(s) differences.

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