Making gene drive biodegradable
|
|
J. Zapletal, N. Najmitabrizi, M. Erraguntla, M. A. Lawley, K. M. Myles and Z. N. Adelman,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,
376:20190804.
2020.
More related to this: $3.9M project on self-deleting genes takes aim at mosquito-borne diseases Self-deleting genes promise risk-free genetic engineering of mosquitoes Self-deleting genes tested as part of the concept of mosquito population control Germline excision of transgenes in Aedes aegypti by homing endonucleases Multi-Locus Assortment (MLA) for transgene dispersal and elimination in mosquito populations
|
Gene drive systems have long been sought to modify mosquito populations and thus combat malaria and dengue. Powerful gene drive systems have been developed in laboratory experiments, but may never be used in practice unless they can be shown to be acceptable through rigorous field-based testing. Such testing is complicated by the anticipated difficulty in removing gene drive transgenes from nature. Here, we consider the inclusion of self-elimination mechanisms into the design of homing-based gene drive transgenes. This approach not only caused the excision of the gene drive transgene, but also generates a transgene-free allele resistant to further action by the gene drive. Strikingly, our models suggest that this mechanism, acting at a modest rate (10%) as part of a single-component system, would be sufficient to cause the rapid reversion of even the most robust homing-based gene drive transgenes, without the need for further remediation. Modelling also suggests that unlike gene drive transgenes themselves, self-eliminating transgene approaches are expected to tolerate substantial rates of failure. Thus, self-elimination technology may permit rigorous field-based testing of gene drives by establishing strict time limits on the existence of gene drive transgenes in nature, rendering them essentially biodegradable.
