Tulane University researchers developed ActCRISPR-TB, an innovative assay integrating isothermal amplification and CRISPR-Cas12a in a single reaction to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA from tongue swabs in under an hour. This non-invasive test outperforms traditional sputum-based methods, identifying TB in 74% of oral samples and achieving higher sensitivities in diverse biological specimens. The assay’s point-of-care design enables expanded screening, especially in resource-limited settings where sputum collection is challenging. This advancement could markedly improve early TB diagnosis and treatment access globally.