New CRISPR-Based Technology Could Revolutionize COVID-19 Diagnostics

Scientists at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA, USA) have repurposed the genetic modification technology CRISPR to identify antibodies in patient blood samples in a move that could inspire a new class of medical diagnostics in addition to a host of other applications. The technology involves customizable collections of proteins which are attached to a variant of Cas9, the protein at the heart of CRISPR that will bind to DNA but not cut it as it would when used for genetic modification. When these Cas9-fused proteins are applied to a microchip sporting thousands of unique DNA molecules, each protein within the mixture will self-assemble to the position on the chip containing its corresponding DNA sequence.

The researchers have called this technique ‘PICASSO’, short for peptide immobilization by Cas9-mediated self-organization. By then applying a blood sample to the PICASSO microarray, the proteins on the microchip that are recognized by patient antibodies can be identified. The research team has demonstrated that the technology works to assemble thousands of different proteins, suggesting that it could be readily adapted as a broad-spectrum medical diagnostic tool. They used the technique to detect antibodies binding to proteins derived from pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, from the blood of recovering COVID-19 patients.

“In this work, we demonstrated the application of PICASSO for protein studies, creating a tool that we believe could be quickly adapted for medical diagnostics,” said Dr. Karl Barber, a 2018 Schmidt Science Fellow. “Our protein self-assembly technique could also be harnessed for the development of new biomaterials and biosensors just by attaching DNA targets to a scaffold and allowing Cas9-linked proteins to bind.”

“This technology has the potential to be used as a medical diagnostic tool that could, one day, provide doctors with a way to quickly determine the diagnosis and best course of treatment for each individual patient,” added Dr. Megan Kenna, Executive Director of Schmidt Science Fellows.

Related Links:
Harvard Medical School
Brigham and Women’s Hospital