The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Climate change is expanding malaria transmission zones and accelerating outbreaks, burdening developing regions of Africa and Asia. Malaria causes high fever, chills, and anemia and can be fatal without timely treatment. Current diagnostics—microscopy, RDTs, and PCR—each have limits: microscopy requires skilled readers and misses low parasitemia; RDTs are rapid but less sensitive; PCR is highly sensitive/specific but slow and hard to deploy. We developed an instrument-light RPA–RCA–CRISPR-Cas12a biosensing platform targeting the Plasmodium falciparum 18S rRNA gene. RPA amplifies the target isothermally, RCA produces long ssDNA for signal amplification, and Cas12a recognition/cleavage is converted into electrochemical or colorimetric changes, enabling detection at extremely low parasite levels. This workflow shortens assay time, improves efficiency, supports early diagnosis, and can be extended to other infectious diseases.