CRISPR diagnostics: Underappreciated uses in perinatology.

CRISPR-based therapeutics have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of hereditary diseases, but current efforts to translate research to the bedside face significant technical, regulatory, and ethical hurdles. In this article, we discuss an underappreciated application of CRISPR: diagnostic testing, and argue that: (1) CRISPR diagnostics are poised to disrupt diagnostic practices including perinatal screening and (2) since CRISPR diagnostics pose minimal technical, regulatory and ethical hurdles (unlike CRISPR therapeutic uses) they are likely to be clinically relevant before CRISPR-based therapies, and thus warrant medical community's attention.