Sherlock Biosciences

Sherlock Biosciences was established in 2019 by a formidable team of nine co-founders, including CRISPR pioneers Feng Zhang, Omar Abudayyeh, and Jonathan Gootenberg, alongside diagnostics veterans and respected scientists such as James J. Collins, David R. Walt, Rahul K. Dhanda, Pardis Sabeti, Todd Golub, and Deborah Hung. The company emerged from foundational technologies developed at the Broad Institute and Harvard University's Wyss Institute, with the mission to make diagnostic testing more accessible, rapid, and affordable. The founders' collective expertise—spanning CRISPR innovation, synthetic biology, and diagnostics—created a powerful synergy. For instance, Feng Zhang, a core member of the Broad Institute, was instrumental in developing CRISPR-Cas9 for genome editing. Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg met as undergraduates at MIT and later worked in Zhang's lab, where they co-developed the SHERLOCK technology. Rahul K. Dhanda, the initial President and CEO, brought extensive experience in growing diagnostics startups, having previously spent a decade at T2 Biosystems.

The company operates in the molecular diagnostics market, creating tools that serve healthcare providers, researchers, and eventually, at-home consumers. Its business model centers on developing and commercializing its proprietary platforms through strategic partnerships and direct product development. A pivotal moment came in May 2020, when Sherlock Biosciences received the first-ever FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a CRISPR-based product, its diagnostic kit for SARS-CoV-2, which can deliver results in about an hour. This achievement validated the platform's potential and positioned the company as a key player in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's growth has been supported by significant funding, including a Series A round of over $30 million and a Series B of $80 million, as well as non-dilutive grants. In a strategic move to accelerate its go-to-market strategy, Sherlock acquired Sense Biodetection in February 2023, integrating Sense's instrument-free molecular test platform. More recently, in December 2024, Sherlock itself was acquired by OraSure Technologies, and now operates as a subsidiary.

Sherlock Biosciences' core offerings are its two proprietary technology platforms: SHERLOCK™ and INSPECTR™. SHERLOCK™, which stands for Specific High-sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter unLOCKing, is a CRISPR-based system that can detect specific DNA or RNA sequences with high accuracy. It works by programming a CRISPR enzyme to find a specific genetic signature and then release a detectable signal upon finding it. This allows for applications in areas like infectious disease identification, precision oncology, and food safety. The second platform, INSPECTR™ (INternal Splint-Pairing Expression Cassette Translation Reaction), is based on synthetic biology and enables the creation of instrument-free diagnostic devices, making it suitable for low-resource settings and at-home use. The combination of these technologies aims to provide the accuracy of traditional PCR tests with the convenience and simplicity of rapid antigen tests, empowering individuals with actionable health information anytime and anywhere.

Keywords: CRISPR diagnostics, molecular diagnostics, synthetic biology, point-of-need testing, infectious disease detection, genetic sequencing, at-home testing, diagnostic platform, genomic medicine, biotechnology