COVID-19: CRISPR based diagnosis and Antibody Therapies

Explore how the CRISPR-Cas system, a bacterial defense evolved into a programmable endonuclease, enables rapid COVID-19 diagnostics and precise genome editing with guide RNA and Cas9.

Cas12 and Cas13 enable CRISPR-based diagnostics by targeting DNA and RNA with guide RNAs, and their collateral cutting activity powers reporter systems for rapid infectious disease detection.

Explore how the Sherlock CRISPR-Cas13 kit detects SARS-CoV-2 using guide RNA and collateral reporter cleavage to generate fluorescence, with RT-RPA amplification enabling rapid 3–10 minute results.

Learn how lateral flow strips visualize Cas13 activity with labeled nucleic acids, producing a single control line for negative and two lines for positive results within an hour.

Examine how the DETECTR CRISPR assay uses RT-LAMP to amplify SARS-CoV-2 RNA into cDNA at 64°C in a single tube, forming loop and dumbbell DNA for exponential amplification.

Explore Cas12-based detection of SARS-CoV-2 using amplified cDNA, guide RNA, and ssDNA reporters. Collateral Cas12 activity cleaves FAM-biotin reporters, freeing fluorescence for a rapid readout.

Learn how lateral flow strips detect SARS-CoV-2 using Cas12 collateral activity, featuring test and control lines, reporter molecules, and rapid Cas12-based detection within 30–40 minutes.

Explore Feluda, a crispr-based diagnostic kit using FnCas9 with no collateral activity for SARS-CoV-2 detection. It labels amplified cDNA with biotin and guide RNA with fam, yielding a test-strip readout.

Use FELUDA's lateral flow strip to detect Cas9 activity, swapping test and control lines, with signals indicating SARS-CoV-2 status and 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity in 40–45 minutes.

Explore convalescent plasma therapy, using antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients to help critically ill patients and health workers via passive immunization.

Select a recovered Covid-19 donor, ensure two weeks post-recovery and a negative Covid-19 test, then screen for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, and perform plasma donation by centrifugation.

Explain how polyclonal antibodies are produced by diverse B cell clones and used in plasma therapy to provide passive immunity against SARS-CoV2.

Plasma therapy for COVID-19 faces limitations including antibody-dependent enhancement, fever or allergic reactions, and transfusion-related risks, while donor screening and blood-type compatibility aim to reduce infection transmission.

Monoclonal antibodies are mass-produced from a single B cell clone, targeting a single epitope on SARS-CoV-2 to block spike protein–ACE2 entry and potentially avoid polyclonal plasma drawbacks.

Identify two monoclonal antibody types from recovered patients: S1 RBD antibodies block ACE2 binding, and S2-epitope antibodies prevent fusion; combining both types may be more effective.

Researchers isolate monoclonal antibodies from recovered patients using phage display and biopanning to target the receptor binding domain and S2 of the spike protein and neutralize the virus.

Generate fully human monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using transgenic humanized mice and hybridoma technology. Screen by ELISA to select antibodies against spike protein receptor binding domain and produce for patients.

Vaccination trains the immune system to develop memory and active immunity, while convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibody therapies provide temporary, passive protection to treat COVID-19.