Gene Drive in the News
A curated collection of articles from the popular press
Massive mosquito factory in Brazil aims to halt dengue
24984M. Lenharo, Nature, 2023-04-14 09:48:56.
The non-profit World Mosquito Program (WMP) has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next 10 years, with the aim of protecting up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue. Researchers have tested the release of this type of mosquito — which carries a Wolbachia bacterium that stops the insect from transmitting viruses — in select cities in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Vietnam. But this will be the first time that the technology is dispersed nationwide. A mosquito factory will be built in a location yet to be determined in Brazil to supply the WMP’s ambitious initiative, in partnership with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a Brazilian public science institution in Rio de Janeiro. The facility should begin operating in 2024 and will produce up to five billion mosquitoes per year. “This will be the biggest facility in the world” to produce Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, says Scott O’Neill, a microbiologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and head of the WMP. “And it will allow us in a short period of time to cover more people than in any other country.” Brazil has one of the highest rates of dengue infection in the world, reporting more than two million cases in 2022.Despite the positive results from past mosquito releases, researchers expect that it will be challenging to operate the technology at such a massive scale.
In The Face Of Nigerian Mosquito Nets, Westerners’ Gene Editing Offers Hope
24964O. Onwumere, The Nigerian Voice, 2023-04-10 10:42:21.
In Nigeria, the utilization of mosquito nets is prevalent, while in the Western world, optimism is associated with the implementation of gene editing technology. In this article, ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE reports that malaria could soon be eradicated in Nigeria. According to US scientists, Anopheles mosquitoes have been genetically modified to resist the malaria-causing parasite by incorporating various anti-malaria molecules that target different stages of the parasite's lifecycle. Nevertheless, the article highlights a lack of information on the knowledge and overall viewpoint of Nigerian scientists concerning GMMs
First transgenic mosquito made in Africa by Transmission Zero
24962H. Dunning, Imperial College London, 2023-04-04 10:33:04.
Transmission Zero, a global scientific programme led by scientists at Imperial College London and the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) of Tanzania, in partnership with the Tanzanian National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), announces the generation of the first transgenic mosquito strain ever to be made in Africa.This strain carries in its genome genetic modifications that will allow scientists in the future to render mosquitoes unable to transmit malaria. This major scientific achievement is a pivotal milestone in the renewed international efforts to rid Africa of malaria. Half of the world’s population is at risk of contracting malaria, a disease caused by parasites that are transmitted from one person to another through mosquito bites. In 2021 alone, there were over 247 million cases and 619,000 deaths from malaria, mostly children under five years old in sub-Saharan Africa.
Groundbreaking Partnership to Combat Dengue Mosquito in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Will Deploy Oxitec Friendly™ Aedes aegypti Solution
24918Oxitec, Oxitec.com, 2023-03-31 13:30:06.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has selected Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution for a new pilot intervention to control the disease-spreading invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito. The project is a partnership between the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Oxitec. Aedes aegypti has spread globally and is the primary vector of diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. Deployments of the Friendly™ Aedes aegypti are planned to be conducted on Ebeye Island where, in 2019, a severe dengue outbreak forced a 'State of Health emergency'.
Evolution driven by genetic engineering should be known as ‘genetic welding’ to draw scientific and ethical scrutiny
24940S. Moore, AZO Life Sciences, 2023-03-29 10:13:27.
The advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been revolutionary, but it has also been highly controversial. In an opinion paper published in the journal Trends in Genetics, evolutionary geneticist Asher Cutter highlights the importance of coining the term ‘genetic welding’ for the anthropogenic manipulation of genetic drive made possible by tools such as CRISPR-Cas9. Separating this process from other processes that influence evolution might be fundamental to ensuring proper consideration is given to the potential future outcomes of genetic welding.
What should we call evolution driven by genetic engineering? Genetic welding, says researcher
24897Cell Press, Phys Org, 2023-03-28 07:29:32.
With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, humans can now rapidly change the evolutionary course of animals or plants by inserting genes that can easily spread through entire populations. Evolutionary geneticist Asher Cutter proposes that we call this evolutionary meddling “genetic welding.” In an opinion paper publishing March 28 in the journal Trends in Genetics, he argues that we must scientifically and ethically scrutinize the potential consequences of genetic welding before we put it into practice.
Gene Drives Are Coming
24887D. Lowe, Science, 2023-03-23 08:26:31.
Consider the “gene drive” idea - there are a lot of variations, but the general idea is that you introduce a genetic sequence into an organism that can bias (drive) its own inheritance into the next generation. This is a thumb-on-the-scale unnatural selection if ever there was one, because that biased inheritance is outside of any fitness advantage that the new sequence might bring with it. In fact, a number of gene drive ideas have the opposite sign, conferring catastrophic unfitness in order to wipe out pathogens and disease-vector organisms.Gene drives of various kinds show up in nature, though, when a gene has some sort of ability to control its own transmission. These are the so-called “selfish genes”, and some of these have no fitness advantage (or even some disadvantage) in the organisms themselves. There are a lot of potential mechanisms for this (see that link for a good review), but what you don’t see are the total-wipeout forms just mentioned, which is what we has humans might like to do to (say) mosquitos or tsetse flies. The advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology has really brought a lot more attention to these ideas, because they make them far more possible, for better or worse.
Scientists disable protective gene in mosquitoes, making them susceptible to disease
24937Texas A&M University, Phys Org, 2023-03-14 10:09:07.
Immune pathways that protect mosquitoes from human pathogens, including West Nile, Zika and dengue viruses were disabled by Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists. The research study, "RNA interference is essential to modulating the pathogenesis of mosquito-borne viruses in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that the mosquito vector species Aedes aegypti becomes acutely susceptible to disease when the protective immune pathway is disabled. This discovery provides new insight into the ecological and evolutionary interactions occurring between mosquitoes and the pathogens they transmit to humans and animals.
Galapagos to receive male mosquitoes for vector control in Ecuador
24835A. R. Martin, Prensa Latina, 2023-03-07 08:39:27.
The Galapagos Islands will receive 100,000 sterile male mosquitoes as part of a new vector control strategy in Ecuador, the Center for Research in Infectious and Vector Diseases (CIREV) announced. Reducing the Aedes aegypti in Ecuador is in charge of the National Institute for Public Health Research (INSPI), and will start off the experimental phase coming Friday, March 10. The research, which started in 2017, is co-financed by the Technical Cooperation Program of the International Atomic Energy Agency
Gene Drive Technology With Agricultural Application Potential
24788R. Carmeli-Peslak, SeedWorld, 2023-02-22 09:51:36.
Gene drive technology, a genetic phenomenon that occurs in nature, causes a trait to spread in species through sexual reproduction over many generations. The inheritance rate is higher than the Mendelian rate which is 50%. Gene drives have been used for public health and conservation, but can potentially be used in multiple species, like agricultural pests according to a release. Weeds and pests have a negative impact on crops and their impact has caused interest in potentially using genetic techniques, like gene drive, to help control weeds and pests. Current insect pest control includes the use of pesticides which has helped to decrease food loss and waste. Research around new tools will help continue to protect crops and reduce food waste while also minimizing agriculture’s environmental footprint. These new tools and practices include gene editing techniques. Now in its early stages, gene-drive-based strategies are being research to help reduce agricultural pests. The gene-drive-based strategies will focus on both controlling pests that cause damage and spreading desired crop or livestock traits faster. A limitation with this strategy is that gene drives cannot work on asexually reproducing organisms. The strategy is also unsuitable for species that have longer generation times. While gene-drive-based strategies may not meet all the needs, but it is a helpful tool to continue to investigate.
Will new genetic engineering tech finally eliminate malaria?
24747Anonymous, Business Daily, 2023-02-20 19:03:20.
Richard Mukabana, a senior research and policy analyst at African Institute for Development Policy, says the technology which employs the principle of sending a thief to catch a thief may yet prove the most effective. “It is only a mosquito that knows where another mosquito is and it’s easier for it to search for others and kill them through suppression,” says Prof Mukabana. In gene drive technologies, an artificial gene is introduced into the malaria-transmitting mosquito population. This then disrupts reproduction by either distorting sex chromosome inheritance such that most offspring are males, or by knocking out female fertility genes such that they no longer lay eggs. Experts argue that the current technology used in fighting malaria, which comprises vector control and drug therapy has not been sufficiently adequate to eliminate the disease on the continent, hence the need to embrace new technologies.
White-Eyed Fruit Flies: How Improvements in Gene Editing Could Aid in Pest Managemen
24752C. Bernhardt, Entomology Today, 2023-02-17 19:07:21.
The SIT involves scientists raising the target fruit fly species in the lab, sterilizing the flies by exposing them to a certain amount of radiation while they are still pupae, and releasing large amounts of the newly sterile flies into nature. When the released, sterile flies mate with wild flies, they produce infertile eggs that never hatch and, over time, this reduces—and hopefully eliminates—the population of flies. “But research shows that if you only release sterile males—instead of sterile males and females at the same time—you can more efficiently accomplish management,” says Daniel Paulo, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Male flies mate more often than females and don’t damage fruits in the field because they don’t lay eggs. Male-focused SIT programs also guarantee sterile males are using their energy to mate with wild-type females, not with females who were also sterilized. So, scientists target male flies with sterilization efforts by using a classic genetic method called genetic sexing, which helps create sex-specific, visible physical characteristics or markers (called phenotypes) among fruit flies. These phenotypes make it possible for scientists to tell the two sexes apart more easily and parse the males and females before sterilizing. A colony of such flies is called genetic sexing strain (GSS). A GSS requires a phenotype scientists can create by inducing a genetic change, called a mutation, that leads to a visible characteristic. Next, they link the normal, non-mutated visual marker to the male sex.
Introducing Emerging Health Technologies in Africa
24724Health Tech Africa, Health Tech Africa Podcast, 2023-02-08 14:22:59.
In this episode, the Project Director of the Platform for Dialogue and Action on Health Technologies in Africa, Professor Richard Mukabana, discusses new technologies that if well developed and proven safe and effective, have enormous potential to eradicate disease on the continent.
Social justice environmental activists move to block gene editing to control invasive species and promote biodiversity. Here’s why they’re misguided
24701S. Smyth, Genetic Literacy Project, 2023-02-07 12:46:02.
Control of invasive species has been extremely difficult with eradication virtually impossible. To control invasive plant species, chemicals are commonly used while in some instances removal of plants by hand, as Shiva advocates, is undertaken. Efforts to control invasive animals include poisoning and shooting. Needless to say, these ‘control techniques’ are inefficient and often harmful to the applicators. Advances in genetics potentially offer new solutions, using gene editing technology to create sterile populations. Sterility is a natural trait in mammals, which can be induced into invasive animals as a means of population control. Invasive pests can be captured, gene-edited to confer sterility in future generations and then released back into the wild. The offspring will gradually without the use of chemicals or hand labor contribute to reduced populations. Applying gene editing technologies is not an instantaneous solution, but they may be part of a long-term strategy.
Biopolitik: The Promise of Gene Drive
24708S. Todi, Technopolitik, 2023-02-07 09:57:49.
Gene drives are genetic elements of an organism that are transmitted to progeny at higher than mendelian frequencies (>50%). Gene editing techniques such as CRISPR–Cas9 have made gene drives extremely efficient in laboratory settings and have shown the potential to reduce the prevalence of vector-borne diseases, crop pests, and non-native invasive species. Research in gene drives, especially on mosquitoes, is being carried out by scientists at the University of California, San Diego, Texas A&M University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others. However, concerns have been raised regarding the potential unintended consequences, especially in terms of the ecological impact of gene-drive systems.
How CRISPR could help save crops from devastation caused by pests
24675E. F. Merchant, MIT Technology Review, 2023-02-02 10:23:26.
Researchers are now looking to add cutting-edge technology to California’s anti-Pierce’s arsenal, by changing the genome of the glassy-winged sharpshooter so that it can no longer spread the bacterium. Such a solution is possible thanks to CRISPR gene-editing technology, which has made modifying the genes of any organism increasingly simple. The technique has been used in experiments in cancer immunotherapy, apple breeding, and—controversially—human embryos. Now a growing number of researchers are applying it to agricultural pests, aiming to control a range of insects that together destroy about 40% of global crop production each year. If successful, these efforts could reduce reliance on insecticides and provide an alternative to genetic modifications to crops. For now, these gene-edited insects are shut away in labs across the globe, but that is poised to change. This year, a US company expects to start greenhouse tests in conjunction with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) of fruit-damaging insects made sterile using CRISPR. At the same time, scientists at government and private institutions are beginning to learn more about pest genetics and to make edits in more species.
Imperial startup Biocentis to develop genetic tech to control harmful insects
24673D. Silverman, Imperial College London, 2023-02-01 10:17:53.
The Imperial startup was founded in 2022 by Imperial researchers in partnership with technology-focused investment group Neurone to create a more effective and sustainable alternative to pesticides. While insects play an essential role in the global ecosystem, among the planet’s millions of insect species are some that spread devastating human diseases such as Dengue Fever and Zika virus, exacerbate food insecurity by spoiling up to 25% of crops, and reduce biodiversity by invading new ecosystems to the detriment of local species. At present, these harmful insect populations are controlled primarily with pesticides. But the growth of pesticide resistance is prompting control programmes to increase the dose and frequency of the toxic chemicals, causing increasing harm to bees and other non-target species.
Researchers Create New System for Safer Gene-Drive Testing and Development
24471M. Aguilera, UC San Diego Today, 2023-01-12 08:46:16.
In the journal Nature Communications, University of California San Diego researchers led by former Postdoctoral Scholar Gerard Terradas together with Postdoctoral Scholar Zhiqian Li and Professor Ethan Bier, in close collaboration with UC Berkeley graduate student Jared Bennett and Associate Professor John Marshall, describe the development of a new system for testing and developing gene drives in the laboratory and safely converting them into tools for potential real-world applications. “These studies both empower new engineering of gene-drive systems while providing important information regarding how to assess and analyze key interactions between their most important moving parts,” said Bier, a faculty member in the School of Biological Sciences, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. CRISPR-based gene drives feature a protein called a Cas9 endonuclease and a guide RNA molecule that join forces to direct DNA cuts to specific sites in the genome where new genetic elements can be inserted. As the DNA repairs these cuts, the new genetic elements are copied from one chromosome to another, resulting in offspring that exceed the standard 50-50 percent inheritance, instead favoring the newly inserted genetic elements.
Biotech company released 2.4 billions GM Mosquitoes in two parts of the U.S
24346C. Victorial, NEWSBREAK, 2022-12-27 16:20:57.
Due to the high death rate that mosquitoes have inflicted, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the release of 2.4 billion genetically modified mosquitoes in selected regions of California and Florida. These modified mosquitoes were created by a biotechnology company called Oxitec. The technology creates non-biting Aedes aegypti, which are common invasive types of mosquito. The males are engineered to only produce other male offspring. Oxitec states that the process will greatly reduce the number mosquitoes, as female mosquitoes are expected to die, while males will reproduce and spread the self-limiting gene to the next upcoming generation. The goal is to eventually decrease the population of all mosquitos to regulated state.
How Selfish Genes Succeed: Critical Insights Uncovered About Dangerous DNA
24318STOWERS INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, SciTechDaily, 2022-12-22 08:48:15.
New findings from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research uncover critical insights about how a dangerous selfish gene—considered to be a parasitic portion of DNA—functions and survives. Understanding this dynamic is a valuable resource for the broader community studying meiotic drive systems. A new study, published in PLoS Genetics on December 7, 2022, reveals how a selfish gene in yeast uses a poison-antidote strategy that enables its function and likely has facilitated its long-term evolutionary success. This strategy is an important addition for scientists studying similar systems including teams that are designing synthetic drive systems for pathogenic pest control. Collective and collaborative advancement in understanding drive may one day lead to the eradication of pest populations that harm crops or even humans in the case of vector-borne diseases.
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