Recent Advances in Enzyme-Mediated Rolling Circle Replication Technology Empowering Virus Detection

The prevalence and spread of viral infectious diseases pose a grave threat to global public health, particularly resulting in a significant number of casualties. To curb the spread of infectious diseases, virus testing is one of the efficient and economical means, among which nucleic acid detection has the advantage of detecting viral infections at an early stage, even before symptoms appear. Rolling circle replication is a representative of enzyme-mediated nucleic acid isothermal amplification technology, which is characterized by its mild reaction conditions, no need for temperature control equipment, and high efficiency. This review provides a conceptual overview of the latest advances of rolling circle replication (RCR) and their applications in viral detection, focusing on the molecular design principles in different application scenarios. The first part briefly describes the significance and advantages of RCR in virus detection. The second part elaborates on the design principle and preparation strategy of RCR and its derivative technologies. The third part focuses on the various application scenarios in virus detection. In the end, we provide a perspective on the innovation of RCR in improving the accuracy and specificity of virus detection to cope with the challenges of infectious diseases that may arise in the future.