Moore and More ›› 2026, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (1): 84-114.DOI: 10.1007/s44275-025-00038-z

• REVIEW • Previous Articles    

Recent advances in CRISPR- and RCA-based biosensing chips and devices for POCT and in situ detection

Yuming Huang1,3, Tianyi Yin2, Yuhao Wen1,3, Shenye Qian1,3, Yuanjie Wu1,3, Xingkai Hao1,3, Wen Chen1,3, Bing Li4, Zhengdong Li5,*(), Sami Ramadan6,*(), Lizhou Xu1,3,*()   

  1. 1 ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 311200, China
    2 State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Biomedical Engineering Facility of National Infrastructures for Translational Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College , Beijing 100730, China
    3 College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310058, China
    4 Department of Chemistry, Institute for Materials Discovery, University College London , London WC1E 7JE, UK
    5 Precision Medical Center, Guangyuan Central Hospital , Guangyuan 628000, China
    6 Department of Materials, Imperial College London , London SW7 2AZ, UK
  • Received:2025-05-27 Revised:2025-09-15 Accepted:2025-09-24 Published:2026-03-20 Online:2026-05-12
  • Contact:
    * Zhengdong Li ()
    * Sami Ramadan ()
    * Lizhou Xu ()
  • About author:

    Yuming Huang is a student majoring in Bioengineering at Zhejiang University. His current research interests include the development of advanced biosensing tools for POCT and in situ analysis.

    Tianyi Yin is a postdoctoral fellow at State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 2024 from Imperial College London. She was awarded the Constance Fligg Tipper Centenary Memorial Prize for her postgraduate research. Her current research focuses on the design, development, and biomedical applications of biosensors.

    Yuhao Wen obtained his M.S. degree in Materials and Chemicals from the Harbin Institute of Technology in 2023. In 2024, he joined the Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center in Zhejiang University. His current research interest is focused on the construction and application of biochemical sensors and related microdevices.

    Shenye Qian is a master’s student at Zhejiang University. He obtained his B.S. degree in Food Quality and Safety from Soochow University in 2024. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Food Engineering at the ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center. His recent research focuses on the design, development, and application of biosensors.

    Yuanjie Wu graduated from the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University with a master’s degree in Basic Medicine in 2025. His main research focuses on bio-detection, drug delivery, and pharmacology. In 2025, he joined the Hangzhou International Science and Technology Innovation Center of Zhejiang University to engage in drug delivery and biological detectionrelated work.

    Xingkai Hao is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Zhejiang University, focusing on highsensitivity biosensing technologies for applications in food safety and medical diagnostics. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Ottawa in 2023. His recent research involves developing rapid detection systems for pathogens and other contaminants in food and beverages, with a particular emphasis on improving the quality control of dairy products.

    Wen Chen is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Zhejiang University, focused on extracting active ingredients in functional foods and evaluating their efficacy, as well as developing highsensitivity biosensing technologies for medical diagnostics. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Food Science from Zhejiang University in 2023. Her recent research has concentrated on developing rapid detection systems for miRNA biomarkers to enhance the quality control of dairy products and on exosomes for targeted bioactive ingredient delivery.

    Bing Li is a full-time lecturer in advanced biosensing technology at UCL. He received his Ph.D. degree from University of Plymouth, UK, in 2016. Then, he moved to Imperial College London as a postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) to develop smart biosensing systems for surgical robotics and medical tools. In 2019, he secured a prestigious independent Edmond and Lily Safra Research Fellowship at Imperial College London to develop the next-generation biosensing diagnostics for the detection of dementia biomarkers. His group has been focusing on the development of various point-of-care/wearable/ implantable sensing systems for disease monitoring and other biomedical applications. He also holds an Emerging Leader position with the UK Dementia Research Institute and an Honorary Lecturer with the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London.

    Zhengdong Li is currently a research director at the Precision Medical Center, Guangyuan Central Hospital. He completed his medicine study at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Rostock. He holds a Doctor of Biochemistry from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Afterwards, he completed his postdoctoral research at the Helmholtz Center for Biomaterials and the Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Medicine in Berlin, Germany. His research interests include molecular diagnosis, precision medicine, and biomaterials in biomedical areas.

    Sami Ramandan is currently a senior research associate at Department of Materials, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London. His research focus is on developing innovative biosensors for early disease detection and diagnosis. His research utilizes two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials to create ultrasensitive, cost-effective, and user-friendly biosensor technologies that can be translated into point-of-care diagnosis.

    Lizhou Xu is currently a professor at Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center & College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University. He was a research associate at Department of Materials, Imperial College London during 2020–2021 studying novel materials and new biosensors. He worked as a KC Wong Fellow (2016–2017) and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow (2017–2019) at the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London. His current research group focuses on the advanced biosensing technologies and biochips for high performance detection in food, agriculture, and medicine.

Abstract:

The synergy of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and rolling circle amplification (RCA) has been considered the cutting edge of molecular diagnostics. These biosensing assays, integrated with other techniques, are widely used in various biosensors for the detection of multiple targets, including nucleic and non-nucleic acid targets. Some biosensing platforms have demonstrated detection performance comparable to that of the gold standard techniques, showing the potential for application in the field of point-of-care testing (POCT). Herein, we review the recent advances over the past 5 years in CRISPR- and RCA-based biosensing chips and devices, with a focus on their implementation in POCT and in situ applications. We classify these systems based on target type, compare their performance metrics, and discuss key technological features. Based on relevant commercial products, we also outline the current challenges that these biosensors may face during commercialization and propose some potential solutions and future research directions.

Key words: POCT, In situ detection, Biosensing chips and devices, CRISPR, RCA