Progress in the application of CRISPR/Cas system in the precise detection and treatment of diseases associated with viral infections

Abstract

Various pathogens can cause infectious diseases, which can spread from one person or animal to another or even between humans and other animals. Microorganisms, viruses, and parasites make up the majority of pathogens. The disease can typically be spread through direct contact with infected people, contact with their bodily fluids and feces, their contaminated objects, vertical transmission (mom-to-child transmission), soil transmission, water transmission, food transmission, contact transmission, and oral transmission of feces and bodily fluids. The importance of treating infectious diseases is heightened by the fact that they are difficult to totally eradicate and are disseminated so widely. Now, CRISPR/Cas9 has been applied in the field of detection and treatment of diseases related to viral infection. It has the characteristics of high specificity and low off-target rate, and is an emerging approach for rapid and accurate detection of viral infection and safe and effective treatment of diseases related to viral infection. In recent years, the system has been successfully applied in the detection and treatment of many viruses such as HIV, HBV, HPV and multiple herpes virus, and the development prospect is broad. This review introduced the RNA-targeting CRISPR/Cas system's composition, structure, molecular mechanism, and potential application, focused on the research progress of the CRISPR/Cas system in the detection and treatment of viral infection-related diseases, and summarized and forecasted the development of relevant systems and related research.