Abstract

In the past several decades, pathogens have emerged as significant threats to both plant production and human security. The rapid and accurate detection of pathogens is essential for effective disease management, precise therapeutic interventions, and timely remediation efforts. The CRISPR-Cas system, which belongs to the microbial defense systems, distinguishes itself through its exceptional adaptability—requiring only a modification in the crRNA sequence to target various genetic elements—along with its unparalleled precision capable of single-base resolution. Its sensitivity extends to attomolar concentrations, and it maintains programmable, precise while being cost-effective. These features of CRISPR-Cas systems collectively surpass the limitations inherent in traditional molecular diagnostic techniques, positioning the CRISPR-Cas system as a pioneer in the next generation of pathogen detection technologies. In this review, we summarized the novel applications of CRISPR-Cas based technologies for nucleic acid detection, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as some potential challenge, and looked forward to the future development of various systems. These provide important considerations for the improvement of CRISPR-Cas based nucleic acid detection.