(Reuters) – Privately-held Sherlock Biosciences said on Wednesday it has acquired UK-based Sense Biodetection to speed up the launch of handheld diagnostic tests that use the breakthrough CRISPR gene editing technology. Sherlock raised $80 million nearly a year ago for development of diagnostics based on the CRISPR tool, which is designed to work like a pair of genetic scissors. The company declined to comment on financial terms of the deal with Sense. Sherlock was the first company to gain authorization for a CRISPR-based COVID-19 test in 2020. The diagnostics company said the deal, which giv…