Competitive SNP-LAMP probes for rapid and robust single-nucleotide polymorphism detection

Hyman, Leland B.; Christopher, Clare R.; Romero, Philip A.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common source of genetic variation between individuals and have implications in human disease, pathogen drug resistance, and agriculture. SNPs are typically detected using DNA sequencing, which requires advanced sample preparation and instrumentation, and thus cannot be deployed for on-site testing or in low-resource settings. In this work we have developed a simple and robust assay to rapidly detect SNPs in nucleic acid samples. Our approach combines LAMP-based target amplification with fluorescent probes to detect SNPs with high specificity in a one-pot reaction format. A competitive “sink” strand preferentially binds to off-target products and shifts the free energy landscape to favor specific activation by SNP products. We demonstrated the broad utility and reliability of our SNP-LAMP method by detecting three distinct SNPs across the human genome. We also designed an assay to rapidly detect highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants. This work demonstrates that competitive SNP-LAMP is a powerful and universal method that could be applied in point-of-care settings to detect any target SNP with high specificity and sensitivity.