Portable CRISPR Takes on Mpox

Researchers assessed a portable molecular test designed for decentralized Mpox detection during an active outbreak

June 22, 2026
3 min

The Pathologist

Objective:

To evaluate the performance of the Mpox SHINE assay for diagnosing Mpox in decentralized settings during the 2025 outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Approach:

Key Findings:

Mpox SHINE achieved 100% sensitivity and specificity compared to qPCR for both extracted and unextracted samples.
Positive specimens were detected in an average of 11.4 minutes for extracted samples and 27.9 minutes for unextracted samples.
The assay maintained accuracy across clinical samples with qPCR cycle threshold values ranging from 15 to 36.

Interpretation:

The study demonstrates the potential of CRISPR-based diagnostics to provide rapid and accurate molecular testing in lower-resource settings.

Limitations:

The evaluation of unextracted samples included only 16 specimens, leading to wide confidence intervals.
The current system is not a fully automated sample-to-answer platform.
Further studies are needed to assess performance in larger cohorts and long-term reagent stability.

Conclusion:

The study shows the feasibility of deploying a CRISPR-based molecular assay during an outbreak, providing results in less than 30 minutes from minimally processed samples.