Universal and Naked-Eye Gene Detection Platform Based on the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Cas12a/13a System

Gold-nanoparticles-based colorimetric assay is an attractive detection format, but is limited by the tedious and ineffective posthybridization manipulations for genomic analysis. Here, we present a new design for a colorimetric gene-sensing platform based on the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas system. In this strategy, programmable recognition of DNA by Cas12a/crRNA and RNA by Cas13a/crRNA with a complementary target activates the trans-ssDNA or -ssRNA cleavage. Target-induced trans-ssDNA or ssRNA cleavage triggers an aggregation behavior change for the designed AuNPs–DNA probes pair, enabling the completion of naked-eye gene detection (transgenic rice, African swine fever virus, and miRNAs as the models) within 1 h. This platform is also showing promise as a fast and inexpensive tool for bacteria identification using 16S rDNA or 16S rRNA. A CRISPR/Cas-based colorimetric platform shows superior characteristics, such as probe universality, compatibility with isothermal reaction conditions, on-site detection capability, and high sensitivity, thus, demonstrating its use as a robust next-generation gene detection platform.