Linh Le Thi Thuy
"Fascination with CRISPR/Cas technology and its potential for rapid, point-of-care diagnostics motivated me to apply for the ViroiDoc open call. Through this project, I hope to broaden my knowledge about viroid detection, collaborate with researchers in this field, and contribute to advancing rapid and reliable diagnostic approaches for plant health."
Linh is ViroiDoc MSCA fellow in Spain (DC5) at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) under supervision of Prof. José-Antonio Daròs.
Individual Research Projects (IRP):
Point-of-care viroid diagnosis based on CRISPR-Cas technologies
Viroids are the smallest known infectious agents, consisting of tiny, circular, non-coding RNA molecules that infect plants and cause severe symptoms such as stunting, leaf distortion, and significant yield loss. Current diagnostic methods, such as RT-PCR, provide high accuracy but require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure, limiting their use in the field. There is a critical need for rapid, portable, and sensitive diagnostic tools to enable early detection and prevent crop losses.
CRISPR-based systems offer programmable and sequence-specific nucleic acid detection with high sensitivity and specificity. Platforms employing Cas12a, Cas13a/d, and Cas9 enable both amplification-based and amplification-free detection workflows. In particular, Cas12a and Cas9 approaches allow detection after isothermal amplification, while Cas13a/d platforms can directly detect viroid RNA without prior amplification.
These CRISPR detection systems can be integrated with point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices, such as lateral flow strips or portable fluorescence readers, enabling results in less than one hour. The combination of CRISPR technologies with POC platforms represents a powerful step toward field-ready diagnostics in plant health management, providing a promising tool to control viroid outbreaks and safeguard agricultural productivity.
Linh-Thi-Thuy Le, J.-A. Daròs
The text above was submitted as poster abstract for the Viroids2025 conference in Bari, Italy.
Project presentation