CRISPR/Cas-Based Nanobiosensor Using Plasmonic Nanomaterials to Detect Disease Biomarkers

The development of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) technology (CRISPR/Cas) as a gene-editing tool has the potential to revolutionize nucleic acid analysis. Recently, CRISPR/Cas systems have demonstrated considerable promise in the development of biosensors for the detection of essential disease biomarkers because they exhibit nonspecific collateral cleavage properties upon target sequence recognition. However, the CRISPR/Cas-based biosensors developed thus far have limitations, such as complicated steps, low sensitivity, low selectivity, and low signal-to-noise ratios. These limitations can be overcome by incorporating the unique characteristics of plasmonic nanomaterials into CRISPR/Cas systems to enhance the signal and improve the sensitivity of these biosensors. From this perspective, current interdisciplinary studies on CRISPR/Cas-based nanobiosensors comprising plasmonic nanomaterials can contribute to the development of highly sensitive CRISPR/Cas-based nanobiosensors. These nanobiosensors can detect attractive disease biomarkers, such as viral nucleic acids, small molecules, and proteins. This review article provides a thorough overview of nanobiosensors that incorporate CRISPR/Cas systems combined with plasmonic nanomaterials to enhance biosensing performance. We believe this review will inspire novel approaches and further innovation in the fields of molecular diagnostics and biomedicine aimed at using CRISPR/Cas systems and plasmonic nanomaterials for more personalized and effective medical treatments.