Novel diagnostic technologies for clinical and frontline use: Advanced diagnostics based on molecular markers and analysis technologies has been improving diagnosis across a wide range of diseases

Emerging Options for the Diagnosis of Bacterial Infections and the Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance

Precise and rapid identification and characterization of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance patterns are critical for the adequate treatment of infections, which represent an increasing problem in intensive care medicine. The current situation remains far from satisfactory in terms of turnaround times and overall efficacy. Application of an ineffective antimicrobial agent or the unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics worsens the patient prognosis and further accelerates the generation of resistant mutants. Here, we provide an overview that includes an evaluation and comparison of existing tools used to diagnose bacterial infections, together with a consideration of the underlying molecular principles and technologies. Special emphasis is placed on emerging developments that may lead to significant improvements in point of care detection and diagnosis of multi-resistant pathogens, and new directions that may be used to guide antibiotic therapy.

Current progress in CRISPR-based diagnostic platforms

The CRISPR‐Cas system is a key technology for genome editing and regulation in a wide range of organisms and cell types. Recently, CRISPR‐Cas–based diagnostic platform has shown idealistic properties for pathogen detection. Integrating the CRISPR‐Cas platform along with lateral flow system allows rapid, sensitive, specific, cheap, and reliable diagnostic. It has the potential to be in frontline for not only pathogen detection during the epidemic outbreak, but also cancer, and genetic diseases.