Follow your curiosity

What discovery has been shared with you?

FACTREE gives you something interesting to discover every day — and something worth talking about together.

Start with one fact. Explore it, go deeper, then follow whichever branch catches your imagination.

Choose subjects for a surprise

Exploring any topic

Begin your discovery

Your next discovery is one click away.

Choose one or more subjects above, or leave Any Topic selected and let curiosity decide.

Medicine

CRISPR-Based Biosensors for Rapid Pathogen Detection

Quick fact

CRISPR-based diagnostic tests like SHERLOCK can detect as few as one molecule of a pathogen's genetic material and can be read on paper strips, much like a pregnancy test.

Why this is interesting

You've probably heard of CRISPR as a gene-editing tool, but did you know it can also be used as a rapid disease detector, finding a virus in a drop of blood within minutes? How does a system designed to cut DNA become a biosensor?