Project 458427

The adage that the sequel is always worse than the original has held true regarding the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. While most thought that the rollout of the vaccines would put this pandemic behind us, the truth is that the emergence of dangerous variants have made that dream increasingly distant. Dangerously transmissible variants of concern are raging throughout the world. It is only a matter of time until a new lineage evolves which is completely immune to the vaccines we designed to protect ourselves. As such, the global community must develop new tools to track and eliminate emerging clusters of variants as they spread and gain potency. CRISPR, as a gene-editing toolbox, is composed of extremely versatile molecular machines. These machines can be programmed target specific sequences, all the way down to a single mutation. We seek to design a new CRISPR-based Point of Care Test which can identify a case of SARS-CoV-2 and determine which variant is responsible by searching for variant-specific mutations in the COVID-19 genome. We will develop two versions of our test, the first will be designed to be operated in regions with minimal laboratory equipment, such as mobile clinics. The test will be performed by clinicians on a massive scale: with 40+ patients being tested per unit. The results will be uploaded by smartphone to a secured, cloud-based server to interpret which patients are infected by the variants. It will also create anonymized reports tracking emerging clusters and which members of the population are at higher risk due to ethnicity, sex, or social class. The second test will be enclosed in a cartridge which patients can use at home. This test will be simple to perform, require no specialized equipment, and will inform patients if they have been infected by one of the dangerous variants. This will allow developing countries and remote communities which lack specialized deep sequencing facilities to track the epidemic despite their limited tools.