Featured Articles
Pest control gets the CRISPR treatment
Tags: Ecology, Fruit fly, Pest management, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Seydel, C., Nature Biotechnology, 2024.
In June 2024, the St. Louis–based pest control company Agragene released genetically modified fruit flies on berry farms in California and Oregon, moving the technology out of the laboratory and into contained field testing. The trial marked a milestone for a next-generation ...
The potential of gene drives in malaria vector species to control malaria in African environments
Tags: Africa, CRISPR, Gene drive, Gene editing, Malaria, ModelingHancock, P.A., North, A., Leach, A.W. et al., Nature Communications, 15. 2024.
Gene drives are a promising means of malaria control with the potential to cause sustained reductions in transmission. In real environments, however, their impacts will depend on local ecological and epidemiological factors. We develop a data-driven model to investigate the ...
Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté’s frank conversation with Bill Gates
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaAfrican Media Agency, 2024.
On October 2, 2024, Professor Abdoulaye Diabaté, a prominent figure in malaria research and Head of Medical Entomology at Burkina Faso’s Research Institute in Health Sciences, gained international attention by appearing in the Netflix documentary series "What’s Next? The ...
Advancements and Future Prospects of CRISPR-Cas-Based Population Replacement Strategies in Insect Pest Management
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Pest management, Population modification/replacementZhao Y, Li L, Wei L, Wang Y, Han Z., Insects, 15. 2024.
Many insects are categorized as agricultural pests due to their ability to transmit diseases and damage crops, which results in significant economic losses. Scientists have proposed two main pest control strategies: population suppression, aimed at reducing the size or ...
Non-Mendelian transmission of X chromosomes: mechanisms and impact on sex ratios and population dynamics in different breeding systems
Tags: Evolution, Population suppression, Transmission distortion, X chromosomeSally Adams; Andre Pires-daSilva, Biochemical Society Transactions, 2024.
The non-Mendelian transmission of sex chromosomes during gametogenesis carries significant implications, influencing sex ratios and shaping evolutionary dynamics. Here we focus on known mechanisms that drive non-Mendelian inheritance of X chromosomes during spermatogenesis and ...
Mark–Release–Recapture (MRR) of Sterile Male Aedes albopictus (Skuse) in Sri Lanka: Field Performance of Sterile Males and Estimation of the Wild Mosquito Population Density
Tags: Dengue, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Hapugoda, Menaka, Nilmini Silva Gunawardena, Tharaka Ranathunge, Jeremy Bouyer, Hamidou Maiga, Kankanige Karunathilake, Gayan Parakrama Withanage, Indika Weerasinghe, Bazoumana B. D. Sow, and Jeevanie Harishchandra, Insects, 15:466. 2024.
Dengue is an important mosquito-borne disease in Sri Lanka. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is an environment-friendly and novel method that can suppress dengue vector mosquitoes in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to evaluate the field performance of sterile males and the density ...
Comparing the long-term persistence of different Wolbachia strains after the release of bacteria-carrying mosquitoes
Tags: Aedes, Population genetics/dynamics, WolbachiaJose L. Orozco-Gonzales, Antone dos Santos Benedito, Daiver Cardona-Salgado et al., Mathematical Biosciences, 372. 2024.
This paper proposes a bidimensional modeling framework for Wolbachia invasion, assuming imperfect maternal transmission, incomplete cytoplasmic incompatibility, and direct infection loss due to thermal stress. Our model adapts to various Wolbachia strains and retains all ...
Altering traits and fates of wild populations with Mendelian DNA sequence modifying Allele Sails
Tags: CRISPR, Modeling, Synthetic biologyMichelle L. Johnson, Bruce A. Hay, Maciej Maselko, Nature Communications, 15. 2024.
Population-scale genome editing can be used to alter the composition or fate of wild populations. One approach to achieving these aims utilizes a synthetic gene drive element—a multi-gene cassette—to bring about an increase in the frequency of an existing allele. However, the ...
Talking About Gene Drive in Uganda: The Need for Science Communication to Underpin Engagement
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Mosquitoes, Stakeholder engagementHartley, S., Stelmach, A., Opesen, C., Openjuru, G. L., and Neema, S., Science Communication, 2024.
Uganda may host the world’s first field trials of gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control. Global North discourses pre-suppose African publics have access to information about gene drive and are ready to make decisions about its governance. We explore assumptions about the ...
The organizational structure of global gene drive research
Tags: Biological control, Gene driveFlorian Rabitz, Global Environmental Change, 84. 2024.
Gene drives are a proposed method for large-scale in situ genetic engineering.
Effectiveness evaluation of mosquito suppression strategies on dengue transmission under changing temperature and precipitation
Tags: Dengue, Field trials, Mosquitoes, Population suppressionKaihui Liu, Shuanghui Fang, Qiong Li, et al., Acta Tropica, 2024.
Efficacy of Wolbachia-mediated sterility to reduce the incidence of dengue: a synthetic control study in Singapore
Tags: Field trials, Incompatible insect technique, WolbachiaJue Tao Lim, Somya Bansal*, Chee Seng Chong*, Borame Dickens, Youming Ng, Lu Deng, Caleb Lee, Li Yun Tan, Grace Chain, Pei Ma, Shuzhen Sim, Cheong Huat Tan, Alex R Cook, Lee Ching Ng, The Lancet Microbe, 2024.
Our study comprised an at-risk population of 607 872 individuals living in intervention sites and 3 894 544 individuals living in control sites. Interventions demonstrated up to 77·28% (121/156, 95% CI 75·81–78·58) intervention efficacy despite incomplete coverage ...
Meiotic drive against chromosome fusions in butterfly hybrids
Tags: Transmission distortionJesper Boman, Christer Wiklund, Roger Vila, Niclas Backström, bioRxiv, 2024.
Species frequently differ in karyotype, but heterokaryotypic individuals may suffer from reduced fitness. Chromosomal rearrangements like fissions and fusions can thus serve as a mechanism for speciation between incipient lineages but their evolution poses a paradox. How does ...
Recombinant venom proteins in insect seminal fluid reduces female lifespan
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, ResistanceSamuel J. Beach, Maciej Maselko, bioRxiv, 2024.
The emergence of insecticide resistance has increased the need for alternative pest management tools1,2 Numerous genetic biocontrol approaches, which involve the release of genetically modified organisms to control pest populations, are in various stages of development to provide ...
Perspectives of African stakeholders on gene drives for malaria control and elimination: a multi-country survey
Tags: AfricaFinda, M.F., Juma, E.O., Kahamba, N.F. et al., Malaria Journal, 22:8384. 2023.
Gene drive modified mosquitoes (GDMMs) have the potential to address Africa’s persistent malaria problem, but are still in early stages of development and testing. Continuous engagement of African stakeholders is crucial for successful evaluation and implementation of these ...
CRISPR/Cas9: a cutting-edge solution for combatting the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda
Tags: CRISPR, Gene editing, Pest managementGouda, M.N.R., Jeevan, H., Shashank, H.G., Molecular Biology Reports, 51. 2023.
The utilization of CRISPR/Cas9 in Spodoptera frugiperda, commonly known as fall armyworm, presents a groundbreaking avenue for pest management. With its ability to precisely modify the insect’s genome, CRISPR/Cas9 offers innovative strategies to combat this destructive pest. ...
Transformative Approaches for Sustainable Weed Management: The Power of Gene Drive and CRISPR-Cas9
Tags: CRISPR, Gene driveKumam, Y.; Trick, H.N.; Vara Prasad, P.V.; Jugulam, M., Genes, 14. 2023.
Weeds can negatively impact crop yields and the ecosystem’s health. While many weed management strategies have been developed and deployed, there is a greater need for the development of sustainable methods for employing integrated weed management. Gene drive systems can be ...
Anopheles gambiae on remote islands in the Indian Ocean: origins and prospects for malaria elimination by genetic modification of extant populations
Tags: Africa, Anopheles, Gene editing, Malaria, Population genetics/dynamicsDitter, R.E., Campos, M., Crepeau, M.W. et al., Scientific Reports, 13. 2023.
The mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a primary malaria vector throughout sub-Saharan Africa including the islands of the Comoros archipelago (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mayotte and Mohéli). These islands are located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in eastern Africa. ...
Engineering mice for female-biased progeny without impacting genetic integrity and litter size
Tags: Genetic engineeringIdo Yosef, Tridib Mahata, Yuhuang Chen, Hadas Bar-Joseph, Ruth Shalgi, Ariel Munitz, Motti Gerlic, Udi Qimron, bioRxiv, 2023.
Generating mammalian gametes with a skewed sex ratio has thus far eluded empirical confirmation. The utilization of such genetically engineered organisms would offer the potential to curtail the necessity for culling animals of undesirable sex, mitigate resource wastage, and ...
Framing Challenges and Opportunities for Canada: Expert Panel on Regulating Gene-Edited Organisms for Pest Control
Tags: Ethics, Pest managementCCA (Council of Canadian Academies), Framing Challenges and Opportunities for Canada, 2023.
Gene-editing technologies are changing approaches to pest management. Rapidly evolving but unproven gene-editing tools could potentially mitigate the impacts of pests in public health, conservation, and agricultural contexts. The use of these tools, however, is accompanied by ...
