Cell-Free Peanut Allergen Biosensor ABSTRACT Food allergies affect over 32 million Americans, with peanut allergies being among the most severe and life-threatening. Current peanut detection methods rely on laboratory-based immunoassays that require hours to days and specialized equipment, creating critical gaps in real-time food safety monitoring. This project develops a CRISPR-Cas12a biosensor system for rapid, field-deployable detection of the major peanut allergen Ara h1. The system leverages Cas12a’s trans-cleavage activity upon target recognition to generate a fluorescent readout, enabling detection within 15-20 minutes with an isothermal amplification step.