How gene-targeting technology is transforming STI diagnosis

Most people who have heard of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (more commonly known as CRISPR) associate it with gene editing – the precise molecular scissors that allow scientists to cut and rewrite DNA.

But the same underlying technology that makes CRISPR so powerful for editing genes also makes it a versatile diagnostic tool.

Our team of researchers at the Doherty Institute have now put that versatility to work in a new device: the world's first rapid, point-of-care test capable of detecting all major bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – including syphilis – on a single platform...