Research article

COMPARATIVE DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMANCE OF A CAS13-BASED ASSAY FOR DETECTION OF COVID-19 CASES IN AL-DEWANIYAH PROVINCE, IRAQ.

Farah Mahdi 1, Parisa Tahmaseb 2 and Amjed Alsultan 3,*

Online First: March 24, 2023


Effective, accurate and rapid diagnostic tools for detection SARS-covid2 infection are urgently needed to prevent and control the pandemic. While RT-qPCR is a gold standard test for diagnosis of SARS-Covid2 infections, this method limited by the requirement for expensive equipment, experienced staff and specialized molecular laboratory. Recently, CRISPR cas13 platform was used for the detection of COVID-19. This study conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of CRISPR based cas13a diagnostic assay for SARS-Covid2. In the current study, the diagnostic performance of Cas13-based SHERLOCK (Specific High Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter Unlocking) assay was compared with RT-qPCR in terms of Sensitivity, specificity and time consuming. The result shows that SHERLOCK assay is highly Sensitivity, specificity assay for detection of nucleic acid of SARS-Covid2. Furthermore , According to time for reading the results , it is one of the promising assay for rapid and accurate detection of this pathogen. Moreover , no instrument and lab. Infrastructure need to performed this diagnostic test.

Keywords

CRISPR-Cas13; covid-19; SHERLOCK