Work

CRISPR diagnostics for maternal–infant HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis care: clinical roles and translational gaps

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: This review asked which maternal-infant clinical decisions are plausible targets for CRISPR diagnostics, what evidence currently supports those roles, and what validation remains necessary. We conducted a structured narrative review of CRISPR diagnostics for HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and syphilis, evaluating complete specimen-to-result systems rather than isolated nuclease reactions. Across the studies identified, HIV early infant diagnosis (EID) had the strongest near-term clinical rationale but lacked validation of microvolume whole blood or dried blood spots, broad HIV-1 inclusivity, and integrated process controls. Maternal HBV had the broadest clinical-specimen evidence, but no identified study established IU/mL-traceable classification around a pregnancy prophylaxis decision boundary. Syphilis direct detection supported a narrower specimen- and stage-dependent adjunctive role and could not replace antenatal serology or exclude congenital infection when negative. Major cross-cutting gaps included specimen preparation, calibration, contamination containment, invalid-result detection, and multisite intended-use validation. These findings do not establish routine clinical readiness. As an evidence-informed development priority, a shared service platform with separately validated pathogen-specific assays appears more defensible in the near term than a universal single-tube triplex.

Source: Frontiers in Microbiology

DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1977927