Gold Nanomaterials‐Implemented CRISPR‐Cas Systems for Biosensing

Abstract Due to their superiority in the simple design and precise targeting, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)‐Cas systems have attracted significant interest for biosensing. On the one hand, CRISPR‐Cas systems have the capacity to precisely recognize and cleave specific DNA and RNA sequences. On the other hand, CRISPR‐Cas systems such as orthologs of Cas9, Cas12, and Cas13 exhibit cis ‐cleavage or trans ‐cleavage activities after recognizing the target sequence. Owing to the cleavage activities, CRISPR‐Cas systems can be designed for biosensing by degrading tagged nucleic acids to produce detectable signals. To meet the requirements of point‐of‐care detection and versatile signal readouts, gold nanomaterials with excellent properties such as high extinction coefficients, easy surface functionalization, and biocompatibility are implemented in CRISPR‐Cas‐based biosensors. In combination with gold nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles, gold nanorods, and gold nanostars, great efforts are devoted to fabricating CRISPR‐Cas‐based biosensors for the detection of diverse targets. This review focuses on the current advances in gold nanomaterials‐implemented CRISPR‐Cas‐based biosensors, particularly the working mechanism and the performance of these biosensors. CRISPR‐Cas systems, including CRISPR‐Cas9, CRISPR‐Cas12a, and CRISPR‐Cas13a are discussed and highlighted. Meanwhile, prospects and challenges are also discussed in the design of biosensing strategies based on gold nanomaterials and CRISPR‐Cas systems.