. >> reporter: we first met university of california bio engineer dan fletcher nearly a decade ago when he was pioneering the use of cell phone cameras to spot and diagnose diseases around the world. but in the case of covid, he says the key is having a test result the phone can see. >> that allows us to have that molecular recognition and turn it into a fluorescent signal that the phone camera is sensitive enough to pick . >> reporter: enter virology vi researchers researchers the institute with jean editing. >> it was discovered in 2012 to be something that we could use for genome editing and now there's very few labs in the world who haven't used knit some application or not. >> the gladstone team added a protein that would react to the rna or genetic material of the covid-19 virus. >> i'll slide it into the sa's esent, the protein triggers a second molecule to emit a fluorescent signal. >> now it's ready for imaging if we turn on the laser light. >> back at the fletcher lab, the test is being coupled with a smartphone camera that can detect the fluorescent glow. >> now we are seeing

. >> reporter: we first met university of california bioengineer dan fletcher nearly a decade ago wheneering the use of cell phone cameras to spot and diagnose diseases around the world. but in the case of covid he says the key is having a test result the phone can see. >> that allows us to have that molecular recognition and turn it into a fluorescent signal that the phone camera is sensitive enough to pick up. >> reporter: enter melanie ott and peranat fazuni, virology researchers at san francisco's gladstone's institutes. gladstone has been at the center of a revolution known as gene editing triggered by a technology known as crispr. >> you know, crisprs with discovered in 2012 to be something we could use for genome editing and now there's probably very few labs in the world who haven't used it in some application or not. >> reporter: in this application the gladstone team added a crispr protein that would react to the rna or genetic material of the covid-19 virus. >> i'll slide it into the sample slider. >> reporter: if it's present the protein triggers a second reporter molecule