Sry gene drive for rodent control: Reply to Gemmell and Tompkins

We would like to thank Gemmell and Tompkins for their interest and comments onthe articlebyPiaggioet al. [1].Theissues raised by Gemmell and Tompkins [2] are very pertinent, and they correctly identified that the format of the article did not lend itself to a comprehensive discussion of the ideas of using gene drives in mice. The method being considered in the Piaggio et al. article is to utilize a naturally occurring t-allele transgene (Tg) to sex-bias amouse population, causing it to crash. Inserting the sex-determining region on the Y chromosome (Sry) into the Tg allows biased inheritance where the majority of the offspring born are phenotypically male.