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CRISPR-based biosensors provide an innovative point-of-use solution to tackle the increasing threat of foodborne illnesses and for research and development in the biotech industry.
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The availability of safe food is crucial for maintaining both nutritional well-being and overall health security. Estimates indicate that 1 in 10 people fall ill after consuming contaminated food, and globally, 420,000 people die each year due to unsafe food consumption. Food contaminated by bacteria, viruses, and chemicals places an undue economic burden on the population. According to the World Bank, the cost of treatment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is pegged at US$ 15 billion. Furthermore, food supply chains can be protected by robust surveillance and monitoring mechanisms that limit foodborne disease outbreaks, maintain consumer confidence, and protect trade interests. Traditional methods of detecting foodborne pathogens and other contaminants are often time-consuming and demand technologies that are rapid, highly sensitive, and hold a point-of-use application. Biosensors that utilise CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology stand as a suitable alternative offering immense potential for research and development (R&D), and scalability, thus ensuring food safety.
WGS offers high discriminatory power in distinguishing pathogens and has been instrumental in determining the origin of outbreaks. It also aids in formulating targeted corrective actions.
Foodborne diseases constitute a severe global health concern. Owing to rapid rates of urbanisation, altered food consumption habits, and climate change, foodborne illnesses disproportionately impact LMICs. Pathogenic bacteria—including Campylobacter jejuni (the causative agent of India’s recent Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak), Salmonella, Listeria, and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli—cause various kinds of health burdens that result in mild to moderate health outcomes but can sometimes lead to hospitalisation and even fatality.
Contamination can occur at any point in the food supply chain. Monitoring and food surveillance enable the prevention, identification, and removal of contaminated food from the marketplace, thereby reducing incidences of morbidity and mortality and ensuring food safety. Notably, whole genome sequencing (WGS) and next-generation sequencing (NGS)—technologies that involve the detection of nucleic acid sequences of disease-causing pathogens—are strategies recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation for the United Nations (FAO) for member states to enhance their foodborne pathogen surveillance. WGS offers high discriminatory power in distinguishing pathogens and has been instrumental in determining the origin of outbreaks. It also aids in formulating targeted corrective actions.
Despite these advantages, the scope of implementing technologies such as WGS by food industries remains limited. This is primarily attributed to the high cost of integrating WGS with routine surveillance, its specific computational infrastructure and capabilities, complex sample pre-treatment processing steps, and technical expertise that are necessary for operating WGS, which are typically absent in food industries. This serves as an opportunity for innovations in biotechnology to identify emerging technologies that offer cost-effective solutions to safeguarding food safety.
CRISPR-based nucleic acid detection systems are cutting-edge technologies that can be used to detect foodborne pathogens and can form part of food surveillance strategies. CRISPR technology detects DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid) of viral or bacterial contaminants on food with high specificity, and a fluorometric or colorimetric signal is read out from the device. The World Economic Forum (WEF) identified CRISPR—a revolutionary gene editing tool that earned researchers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry—as a technology with the potential to shape ‘the future of food and health’. CRISPR gained significant traction, and one of its technologies, Sherlock™, was approved by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a diagnostic test to identify SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. CRISPR technology is predominantly utilised in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for various disease conditions, including HIV/AIDS, genetic disorders, and cancers, and is in various stages of R&D, including clinical trials. In 2023, Casgevy, a cell-based gene therapy based on CRISPR technology, was approved by international regulatory agencies for the treatment of sickle-cell disease in patients over the age of 12. Earlier in May 2025, a baby suffering from a severe genetic disorder received the world’s first personalised CRISPR-based treatment.
These biosensors offer considerable advantages, such as increased sensitivity and selectivity owing to CRISPR-Cas’s high recognition specificity, affordability in low-resource settings, and simple analytical detection methods, including detection by the naked eye.
Several kinds of CRISPR-based biosensor technology are currently under R&D for food safety applications. Notably, the detection of Listeria monocytogenes, the cause of listeriosis—a major foodborne illness—was facilitated through the development of a fluorescent-based CRISPR-Cas biosensor. A biosensor to detect E. coli O157:H7 in milk samples, which causes severe illness, was recently developed as well. These biosensors offer considerable advantages, such as increased sensitivity and selectivity owing to CRISPR-Cas’s high recognition specificity, affordability in low-resource settings, and simple analytical detection methods, including detection by the naked eye. They also eliminate the need for large and bulky equipment, enabling portability and field detection (on-site).
In addition, there are currently no explicit regulatory restrictions on the use of CRISPR-based biosensors in India. These tools do not involve any genetic modification of organisms and would therefore not fall under the purview of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC). However, they would still require approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which sets standards for food safety applications. If these tools are intended for use as medical devices, they would also require approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
There is considerable scope to improve the effectiveness of these technologies. Key areas include enhancing sensitivity and selectivity, improving stability, and overcoming storage and transport challenges— particularly for those requiring cold chain conditions. Reducing operational steps for faster detection and developing biosensors that can detect multiple pathogens are also crucial. Further, integration with other technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Raman spectroscopy, and nanotechnology holds significant potential for the development of advanced CRISPR-based biosensors.
CRISPR-based biosensors offer a novel point-of-use technology to address the growing concern over foodborne illnesses and hold significant potential for R&D.
This year’s World Food Safety Day theme—‘Science in Action’—calls for researchers to develop innovative tools to promote food safety and security. CRISPR-based biosensors offer a novel point-of-use technology to address the growing concern over foodborne illnesses and hold significant potential for R&D. India is emerging as a ‘global biotech powerhouse’ with its bioeconomy targeted to reach US$ 300 billion by the year 2030. Notably, India’s bioeconomy grew from US$10 billion in 2014 to US$ 165.7 billion last year with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 17.9 percent and contributes 4.25 percent to national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Bio-E3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) and Bio-RIDE (Biotechnology Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development) policies support biomanufacturing in diverse areas, including health and food security. Indian researchers are actively involved with CRISPR, primarily researching the use of diagnostic tools for genetic disorders and COVID-19, and the development of CRISPR-Cas gene-edited high-yielding, stress-tolerant, and climate-resilient rice varieties. BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and C-CAMP (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms)—not-for-profit institutions set up by the Department of Biotechnology—offer suitable platforms that support the progression of economically-relevant research ideas to move from proof-of-concept towards entrepreneurship. Notably, Indian start-ups are actively venturing into the commercial space with an indigenous CRISPR-based diagnostic platform, located in C-CAMP, able to detect antibiotic resistance (AMR) in hospital-acquired infections.
As a vital determinant of health, food safety is of utmost priority. Food contaminated with bacteria and viruses poses a great socio-economic burden, but can be mitigated through surveillance measures. High-impact investments in the bioeconomy sector are needed to drive this through. The global biosensors market was valued at US$ 27.84 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2 percent, reaching approximately US$ 56.54 billion by 2032. To match the pace of scientific innovation and to ensure integration with emerging technologies, CRISPR-based biosensors require strategic investment—particularly for addressing foodborne disease outbreaks and enabling point-of-use diagnostics. These technologies will reduce the dependence on lengthy laboratory-based testing and promote real-time detection. Accompanied by India’s thriving start-up ecosystem, highly skilled biotech workforce, and cutting-edge R&D technologies, India can contribute to addressing pressing food safety challenges and will help India attain Viksit Bharat with a self-reliant bioeconomy by 2047.
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan is an Associate Fellow with the Health Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Lakshmy is an Associate Fellow with ORF’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy. Her work focuses on the intersection of biotechnology, health, and international relations, with a ...
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