Existing methods of detecting foreign
genes and their expression
products from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) suffer from the
requirement of professional equipment and skillful operators. The
same problem stays for the CRISPR-Cas12a system, although it has been
emerging as a powerful tool for nucleic acid detection due to its
remarkable sensitivity and specificity. In this report, a portable
platform for the visible detection of GMOs based on CRISPR-Cas12a
was established, which relies on a color change of gold nanorods (GNRs)
caused by the invertase-glucose oxidase cascade reaction and the Fenton
reaction for signal readout. A nopaline synthase (NOS) terminator
was employed as a model target commonly existing in foreign genes
of GMOs. With the help of recombinase-aided amplification, this platform
achieved comparable sensitivity of DNA targets (1 aM) with that of
a fluorescence reporting assay. As low as 0.1 wt % genetically modified
(GM) content in Bt-11 maize was visually observed by unaided eyes,
and the semiquantitation of GM ingredients can be obtained within
the range of 0.1 to 40 wt % through the absorption measurement of
GNRs. Furthermore, five real samples were tested by our method, and
the results indicated that the GM ingredient percentages of GMO samples
were 2.24 and 24.08 wt %, respectively, while the other three samples
were GMO-free. With the advantages of a simple procedure, no need
for large or professional instruments, high sensitivity, and selectivity,
this platform is expected to provide reasonable technical support
for the safe supervision of GMOs.