New CRISPR tech makes it possible to wipe out invasive mice

,  2022.

Australian researchers have developed a gene drive that renders female mice infertile, while allowing male mice to pass the mutation on to nearly all of their offspring. Within a few generations, this system could cause an isolated population of mice to collapse. While it has yet to be tested in the world, researchers envision it as a way to eliminate invasive pests from islands where they have devastated local ecosystems.Gene drives: Animals usually have two copies of every gene, one inherited from each parent. During reproduction, only one copy is passed down to the next generation, with each copy having a 50% chance of being the chosen one. But something called a gene drive can cheat the system by increasing the chances that a particular copy will be inherited. The phenomenon can be found in nature, and using gene-editing technologies, such as CRISPR, we can now create gene drives in the lab.


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