The GeneConvene Virtual Institute aggregates, curates and shares knowledge to advance understanding of gene drive technologies and selfish genetic elements.
The GeneConvene Virtual Institute is an initiative of the GeneConvene Global Collaborative, a program within the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health that advances best practices for genetic biocontrol technologies such as those using gene drive.
Gene drive and other genetic biocontrol technologies are emerging technologies with implications for public health, conservation and agriculture. Conversations and discussions about these technologies will benefit from well-informed stakeholders and other interested parties.
Decisions by stakeholders regarding the research, development and possible use of gene drive and other biocontrol technologies will benefit from stakeholders having sources of knowledge of the scientific, social, safety and economic dimensions of these technologies.
Knowledge of gene drive and other genetic biocontrol technologies is growing rapidly but is fragmented and dispersed throughout the internet. The aim of the Virtual Institute is to bring knowledge of gene drive and other genetic biocontrol technologies together in one virtual location to make it readily accessible to those with interests in these technologies.
Stay informed of developments in the gene drive and genetic biocontrol spaces!
GeneConvene Virtual Institute Newsletter
The Latest About Gene Drive and Genetic Biocontrol
The GeneConvene Virtual Institute is built on a database of content in the categories shown in the tab labels below. Content coming into the Virtual Institute in these categories can be seen in each tab as well as all of the content in each of the categories, organized chronologically.
Featured Article
Modelling the suppression of a malaria vector using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive to reduce female fertility
A. R. North, A. Burt and H. C. J. Godfray, BMC Biology, 18:98. 2020.
Physical features and vegetation map of Africa. Image Credit: physicalmap.org License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Gene drives based on CRISPR-Cas9 technology are increasingly being considered as tools for reducing the capacity of mosquito populations to transmit malaria, and one of the most promising options is driving endonuclease genes that reduce the fertility of female mosquitoes. In particular, there is much interest in constructs that target the conserved mosquito doublesex (dsx) gene such that the emergence of functional drive-resistant alleles is unlikely. Proof of principle that these constructs can lead to substantial population suppression has been obtained in population cages, and they are being evaluated for use in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we use simulation modelling to understand the factors affecting the spread of this type of gene drive over a one million-square kilometre area of West Africa containing substantial environmental and social heterogeneity.
