CRISPR is might prove a tool to fight COVID-
Everyone is waiting for the vaccine to be created and widely distributed but of course that can take months->years but economy can’t hold a full lockdown for that much time so the other possibility to combat the spread and restart the economy is the strategy of test-trace-isolate: test massively, trace the spread and isolate the individuals infected.
The problem with testing right now is that it’s too expensive in terms of resources. To detect an early COVID-19 infection you need to do a PCR test that is done in a laboratory…
The other way of testing is the anti-bodies testing but that means you were already infected for a while and your body responded to the virus with anti-bodies… Not efficient to stop the spread because from the moment when you got infected and the anti-bodies appeared takes days/weeks…
We need a very fast-at-home test kit that anyone can do it.
Pregnancy tests: you can do a pregnancy test at home and if it’s positive then you go to the doctor.
This is the concept of the new FDA-approved COVID-19 CRISPR test.
It uses a technic called SHERLOCK which basically detects nucleic acid in a sample. In simple terms, it can detect viral ARN inside a sample very fast.
This is a huge “marketing” impact for CRISPR used as a diagnosing tool.
Listen to this a16z podcast to gain more insights.
https://a16z.com/2020/05/17/16mins-covid-testing-eua-crispr-diagnostics-fda-regulation
