[FRIAM] “Sherlock Testing in One Pot.”

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New CRISPR-based test for Covid-19 could be a simple, cheap at-home diagnostic, scientists say
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/05/crispr-covid-19-test-could-be-simple-cheap-at-home-diagnostic/

> STOP stands for “Sherlock Testing in One Pot.” It builds on Zhang’s 2017 CRISPR invention, called Sherlock. Like the better-known, genome-editing versions of CRISPR, Sherlock starts with a guide molecule that homes in on a specific stretch of DNA — or RNA, which constitutes the genome of the new coronavirus. An enzyme called AapCas12b, from the bacterium Alicyclobacillus acidophilus, cuts the RNA in a way that generates a fluorescent signal detectable much as home pregnancy tests detect the presence of a pregnancy-related hormone.
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> For STOP, the scientists targeted their guide molecule at the coronavirus’s N gene, which codes for the nucleocapsid, or shell, that encloses its genome. The PCR test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also targets the N gene.
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> The MIT scientists tested STOP on nasopharyngeal swabs from Covid-19 patients and on saliva samples from healthy people to which the new coronavirus was added. STOP had 100% specificity — it never “found” the coronavirus if the microbe wasn’t really there — and 97% sensitivity, meaning if the virus was present, the test missed it only 3% of the time. The existing PCR test misses up to 30% of cases, scientists have said.
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> The scientists have prepared enough material so far for 10,000 tests, and are making it free to researchers who want to evaluate its potential diagnostic use.



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