Mammoth Biosciences Presents AACC 2021 Disruptive Technology Award Finalist CRISPR-Based Detection Platform

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 29 Sep 2021

Illustration

Mammoth Biosciences (San Francisco, CA, USA) presented its revolutionary CRISPR-based detection platform that is enabling limitless testing possibilities and was also one of the AACC 2021 Disruptive Technology award finalists.

Mammoth has catalyzed a new approach to molecular diagnostics, called DETECTR. Based on CRISPR, this programmable platform acts as a search engine for biology and is capable of finding and identifying any nucleic acid sequence in the genome. Using proprietary technology licensed exclusively from the University of California, Berkeley and developed internally, Mammoth is working on multiple form factors and test targets from infectious diseases to cancer. For example, DETECTR was configured in less than two weeks to detect SARS-CoV-2, demonstrating the platform’s ability to be quickly tailored to identify any DNA or RNA target. The resulting product, DETECTR BOOST, is a reagent kit that when combined with standard laboratory automation provides labs with unparalleled high throughput molecular testing.

Mammoth was also one of the AACC 2021 Disruptive Technology award finalists. AACC's Disruptive Technology Award Competition recognizes innovative testing and disruptive technology solutions that improve patient care through diagnostic performance or access to high quality testing. It provides an opportunity for early to mid-stage start-ups in the medical device, diagnostic, or digital health/health IT spaces to showcase their technology and present to a large audience and a panel of judges.

Related Links:
Mammoth Biosciences

Visit expo >

Platinum Member

Automated Coagulation Analyzer

Hemolumi H6

Gold Member

Neonatal Heel Incision Device

Tenderfoot

CMV CLIA Diagnostic

CLIA CMV IgA Screen Group

All-in-One Molecular System

AIO M160

ADLM

Latest AACC 2021 News

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel

Image: Tracking blood test trends alongside unexplained weight loss may help identify patients at increased cancer risk and support earlier investigation (Image Credit: 123RF)

Blood Test Patterns Improve Cancer Risk Assessment in Primary Care

Unexplained weight loss is a common but nonspecific presentation in primary care that can precede several types of cancer, making referral decisions difficult. Routine blood tests may produce borderline... Read more

Image: A large, international study led by City of Hope found that the new, investigational liquid biopsy, called PANXEON, was highly sensitive in detecting stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer and had a low rate of false positives. The test was also able to identify high-grade dysplasia, a precancerous condition of the pancreas, potentially enabling intervention before cancer develops. (Photo courtesy of City of Hope)

Multi-Biomarker Blood Test Shows Promise for Early Pancreatic Cancer Detection

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rates of any cancer, with only 14% of patients alive five years after diagnosis. The disease is typically discovered after it has spread, and an estimated 90%... Read more

Image Credit: Diane E. MacDougall et al., FIND Lp(a) Machine Learning Model: Targeted Screening Enrichment of Elevated Lipoprotein(a) in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, JACC: Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.103114

Machine Learning Supports Targeted Screening for Elevated Lipoprotein(a)

Lipoprotein(a) is an independent, genetically determined risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, yet routine screening remains uncommon despite guideline recommendations, leaving many high-risk... Read more

Blood Biomarker May Help Monitor Early Response to Lecanemab in Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder marked by amyloid-beta and tau pathology and remains a leading cause of cognitive decline in older adults. Although lecanemab, an anti-amyloid... Read more

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel

Image: NTM are about 200 environmental bacteria found in soil and water that can cause chronic, tuberculosis-like lung infections but are distinct from the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Rapid CRISPR Test Identifies Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Species from Respiratory Samples

Chronic lung infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly recognized but frequently mistaken for tuberculosis, complicating diagnosis and care. These infections may affect as... Read more

FDA Clears Compact Molecular COVID Test for Decentralized Care Settings

Decentralized healthcare settings such as urgent care clinics have historically struggled to deploy high-performance molecular testing. Barriers include high upfront costs, fixed testing capacity, large... Read more

Blood-Based DNA Analysis Method Detects Early-Stage Solid Cancers

Early detection of stage I solid cancers remains a significant unmet clinical need. Liquid biopsy approaches that can distinguish tumor-derived signals from background cell-free DNA are therefore drawing... Read more

Combined Blood and Genetic Tests Estimate Timing of Alzheimer’s Symptom Onset

Predicting when Alzheimer’s disease will manifest remains a major clinical challenge, particularly before cognitive decline is evident. Blood biomarkers and genetic risk markers can flag elevated risk,... Read more

Hematology

view channel

Image Credit: American Society of Hematology

Updated Ferritin Thresholds Improve Detection of Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency is one of the most common health conditions worldwide, yet its nonspecific symptoms can delay diagnosis for months. Variation in testing practices and ferritin thresholds may contribute... Read more

New Automated Hemostasis Systems Become Available Across US Laboratories

Hemostasis testing supports critical decisions in surgery, anticoagulation management, and the evaluation of bleeding and thrombotic disorders, but laboratories continue to face rising volumes and complex... Read more

Image: Acute myeloid leukemia is an aggressive blood cancer in which relapse remains a major challenge, making MRD detection critical for risk assessment and treatment planning (Image Credit: Shutterstock)

Variation in AML Residual Disease Testing Prompts Push for Standardization

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer in which relapse after therapy remains a persistent challenge, making measurable residual disease (MRD) detection central to risk assessment and... Read more

Hidden Molecular Mechanism Behind HIT Blood-Clotting Disorder Revealed

Immune-mediated thrombosis following heparin therapy can be sudden and severe, creating urgent diagnostic challenges. In heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), antibodies against platelet factor 4 (PF4)... Read more

Immunology

view channel

Image: Although many people harbor latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), growing evidence has linked the virus to MS pathobiology (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Blood EBV Activity Biomarkers May Predict Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Months Ahead

Predicting relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains difficult, limiting opportunities for timely intervention and monitoring. Although many people harbor latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), growing evidence... Read more

Image Credit: Adobe Stock

New Cellular Map May Help Predict Crohn’s Disease Course in Children

Crohn’s disease in children is a common and debilitating form of inflammatory bowel disease, marked by chronic intestinal inflammation and limited pediatric-specific treatments. Clinicians must decide... Read more

Image Credit: Adobe Stock

Temporal Immune Profiling Reveals How Sepsis States Change Over Time

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which the immune response to infection becomes dysregulated, leading to rapid organ failure and death. Although antimicrobials and organ support remain standard... Read more

Study Identifies Immune Cells That Drive Harmful Autoantibody Responses in COVID-19

Autoantibodies that mistakenly attack the body’s own tissues have been linked to severe COVID-19, Long COVID, and increased risk of autoimmune disease. However, the origins of these autoantibodies during... Read more

Microbiology

view channel

Magnetic Nanoparticles Enable More Sensitive Beta-Lactam Allergy Testing

Penicillin allergy labels are common in clinical practice, yet many are incorrect and can lead to suboptimal antibiotic choices. Although 8%–25% of people report a penicillin allergy, only 1%–10% are truly... Read more

Image: Graphical Abstract (Zeyang Shen et al., Shotgun Metagenomics Reveals Skin Microbiome Composition and Function in Infant Atopic Disease, Allergy, 2026. DOI: 10.1111/all.70449)

Infant Skin Microbiome Show Links to Later Eczema and Food Allergies

Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, and food allergies often begin in infancy and are among the earliest stages of the atopic march. Atopic dermatitis alone can affect up to 20% of children, yet objective indicators... Read more

Diagnostic Stewardship Guide Targets Testing Overuse and Hospital Cost Pressures

Hospitals face persistent pressure to improve diagnostic accuracy while reducing unnecessary testing and costs. Misordered or overused assays can complicate infection metrics, trigger penalties, and strain... Read more

Research Strengthens Bundibugyo Virus Outbreak Readiness with Faster Diagnostics

Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), a species of ebolavirus, causes severe hemorrhagic disease and can be difficult to diagnose rapidly during outbreaks. Recent regulatory changes have further complicated swift deployment... Read more

Pathology

view channel

Machine Learning Cytology Tool Improves Cancer Cell Identification

Cytological screening remains central to early cancer detection, but its accuracy depends heavily on expert interpretation of stained cells. Under conventional microscopy, malignant and reactive cells... Read more

Tumor Budding Grading May Predict Chemotherapy Benefit in Resected Lung Squamous Cancer

Outcomes after resection for lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) vary substantially, and the uneven benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy complicates postsurgical treatment decisions. Pathologic markers that... Read more

CAP Updates Cancer Protocols to Refine Breast Cancer Biomarker Reporting and GIST Molecular Testing

Standardized biomarker reporting and molecular profiling are central to pathology-driven cancer care, but evolving practices require laboratories to keep reporting templates current. These templates capture... Read more

Image: The workflow analyzes slides already generated during routine care, providing added prognostic information without requiring another tissue test (Image Credit: Shutterstock)

AI Spatial Analysis of Routine Slides Helps Predict Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence

Predicting which patients with pancreatic cancer will recur after treatment and surgery remains challenging. Pathology evaluation typically measures residual tumor burden, but recent work found that tumor... Read more

Technology

view channel

Image: ADLM recommends that emerging AI tools follow the same professional oversight, quality, validation, and monitoring standards as traditional clinical testing within CLIA’s existing framework (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

ADLM Calls for CLIA Updates to Support Safe AI Use in Laboratory Medicine

Clinical laboratories increasingly use artificial intelligence to verify, interpret, and report results, but safeguards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) were designed in 1992.... Read more

Multimodal AI Framework Aims to Guide Cancer Immunotherapy Decisions

Cancer immunotherapy has reshaped oncology, but heterogeneous responses and immune-related toxicities continue to complicate routine decision-making. Standard biomarkers, including programmed death-ligand... Read more

New Multipurpose Centrifuge Combines High Capacity with Sustainable Cooling

Laboratories often need centrifugation that accommodates multiple vessel formats while maintaining controlled temperatures to protect sensitive samples. Intuitive controls and repeatable operation can... Read more

Bacterial Vesicle Expression System Streamlines Production of Cancer Diagnostic Proteins

Recombinant proteins are central to many cancer diagnostics and therapies, but numerous targets remain difficult and costly to produce because they are unstable, toxic to microbial hosts, or require precise folding.... Read more

Industry

view channel

Veracyte Acquisition Expands Urine-Based Bladder Cancer Monitoring Capabilities

Veracyte, Inc. has acquired Convergent Genomics, expanding its urology diagnostics offerings with the company’s UroAmp platform and proprietary urinary tumor DNA (utDNA) technology. UroAmp has been clinically... Read more

Image: Concentriq AP-Dx supports primary diagnosis from digital pathology slides and is FDA-cleared, Health Canada-licensed, and CE-marked under the EU IVDR. (Photo courtesy of Proscia)

Unilabs Expands Digital Pathology Across European Network with Proscia Platform

As precision medicine expands, digital pathology platforms must connect teams, sites, diagnostic data, and artificial intelligence to accelerate routine diagnosis. Sharing expertise across laboratory networks... Read more

Image: Under the theme “From Tissue to Answer”, the launch of VisiOmics anchors a comprehensive pathology portfolio spanning tissue and molecular pathology (Photo courtesy of MGI Tech Co., Ltd.)

MGI Launches Automated Multiplex Tissue Staining and Imaging System at ECP 2026

MGI Tech Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) introduced VisiOmics (PMIF-20RS), a fully automated multiplex immunofluorescence staining and imaging system, at the 38th European Congress of Pathology (ECP 2026)... Read more

Digital Pathology Partnership Integrates Breast Cancer Diagnostic and Prognostic Tools

Breast cancer diagnostics rely on reproducible histological grading and timely interpretation of immunohistochemical biomarkers to guide therapy. Access to prognostic risk profiling can be limited by long... Read more