Scholarly Literature

This is a database of scholarly literature that concentrates currently on natural and engineered selfish genetic elements (gene drives).  The latest are shown here.
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Nanobody-mediated targeting of Plasmodium falciparum PfPIMMS43 can block malaria transmission in mosquitoes

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Ukegbu, C.V., Mohamed, M., Hoermann, A. et al.,  Communications Biology,  8. 2025.
The transition from ookinete to oocyst is a critical step in the Plasmodium falciparum lifecycle and an important target for malaria transmission-blocking strategies. PfPIMMS43, a surface protein of P. falciparum ookinetes and sporozoites, is critical for this transition and ...

Maximising Eradication Potential of Rat Gene Drives Using a Two-Target Homing Rescue Strategy: Spatial Modelling of Empirical Data

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Birand, A., Gierus, L., Prowse, T., Cassey, P., Thomas, P.Q.,  Molecular Ecology,  2025.
Gene drives are genetic elements with positively biased transmission and may be useful tools to suppress mammalian pests that threaten biodiversity worldwide. While gene drives are progressing in mice, less is known about their potential for invasive rat control. A recent report ...

Impact of sterile Aedes aegypti males releases on vector dynamics: insights from Malaysian field trials

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Nazni, W.A., Teoh, GN., Nuradila, M.A. et al.,  Infectious Diseases of Poverty,  14. 2025.
The Sterile insect technique (SIT) has been successfully used in agricultural pest control, leading to interest in its application for public health, particularly in controlling Aedes mosquitoes in the USA, Italy, Cuba, and Greece. Malaysia has conducted a small-scale SIT pilot ...

Economic evaluation of Wolbachia deployment in Colombia: A modeling study

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Shepard, D.S., Lee, S.R., Halasa-Rappel, Y.A., Rincon Perez, C.W., Harker Roa, A.,  PLoS One,  20. 2025.
Wolbachia are bacteria that inhibit dengue virus replication within the mosquito. A cluster-randomized trial in Indonesia found Wolbachia reduced virologically-confirmed dengue cases by 77.1%. Previous models predicted Wolbachia to be highly cost-effective in Indonesia, ...

Optimizing Cost-Effective Larval Diets for Mass Rearing of Aedes Mosquitoes in Vector Control Programs

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Li, Q., Wei, T., Sun, Y., Khan, J., & Zhang, D.,  Insects,  16. 2025.
Larval diet composition significantly influences the developmental, physiological, and reproductive traits of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti, major arbovirus vectors. Optimizing larval nutrition is essential for mass-rearing programs supporting the sterile insect technique and ...

A selfish supergene causes meiotic drive through both sexes in Drosophila

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G.L. Keais,C.M. Saad-Roy,E. Gonzalez-Sqalli, et al.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  122. 2025.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that bias their own transmission during meiosis or gamete formation. Due to the fundamental differences between male and female meiosis in animals and plants, meiotic drivers operate through distinct mechanisms in the two sexes: In ...

Optimization of SgRNA expression with RNA pol III regulatory elements in Anopheles stephensi

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Gonzalez, E., Anderson, M.A.E., Ang, J.X.D. et al.,  Scientific Reports,  15. 2025.
Anopheles stephensi, a major Asian malaria vector, is invading Africa and has been implicated in recent outbreaks of urban malaria. Control of this species is key to eliminating malaria in Africa. Genetic control strategies, and CRISPR/Cas9-based gene drives are emerging as ...

Stronger population suppression by gene drive targeting doublesex from dominant female-sterile resistance alleles

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Weizhe Chen, Ziye Wang, Jackson Champer,  bioRxiv,  2025.
CRISPR homing drives can be used to suppress a population by targeting female fertility genes. They convert wild-type alleles to drive alleles in the germline of drive heterozygotes by homology-directed repair after DNA cleavage. However, resistance alleles produced by ...

An eco-epidemiological model for malaria with Microsporidia MB as bio-control agent

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Mfangnia CNT, Tonnang HEZ, Tsanou B, Keith Herren J,  Modeling Earth Systems and Environment,  11. 2025.
Microsporidia MB is an endosymbiont which naturally infects Anopheles mosquitoes. Due to its ability to block Plasmodium transmission, it shows potential as a bio-based agent for the control of malaria. Its self-sustainability is promising, as it can spread through both ...

International perspectives on the meaning of engagement in biotechnology risk assessment: the case of gene drive

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Hartley, S., Stelmach, A., Kokotovich, A., & Smith, R. D. J.,  Journal of Risk Research,  2025.
Biotechnology remains challenging for risk assessors. The risk assessment of genetically modified organisms was the locus of considerable, acrimonious, and politicised debate and subjected to intense scrutiny. Since then, biotechnology has evolved to include new tools, such as ...

Mathematically modelling the population dynamics of CRISPR gene drive systems in the pine pest Sirex noctilio

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Strydom, H., Ouifki, R., Chapwanya, M.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Sirex noctilio is an invasive pest of pine that has caused significant economic damage in South Africa and many other Southern Hemisphere countries. Current management tools are not efficient in all cases and consequently there is a need for more efficient and targeted control ...

Evolutionary consequences of long-distance dispersal in mosquitoes

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Thomas L Schmidt,  Current Opinion in Insect Science,  68. 2025.
Long-distance dispersal (LDD) provides a means for mosquitoes to invade new regions and spread adaptive alleles, including those conferring insecticide resistance. Most LDD takes place on human transport vessels and will typically be rarer and more directionally constrained than ...

Applications and status of gene drive in plants

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Hay BA,  PLOS Biology,  23. 2025.
Globalization—the movement of humans, plants, animals, and microbes—together with climate change, place numerous plant and animal species under novel stresses. For plants, threats include global warming, invasive species, weeds, animal pests, and vectors of disease. Harms can ...

Problem formulation for a small-scale field study of non-gene drive, genetically modified, male bias mosquitoes in Burkina Faso

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Hayes, K. R., & Hosack, G. R.,  Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal,  2025.
This article documents the problem formulation step of a risk assessment for a proposed small-scale field release in Burkina Faso of genetically modified (GM) An. coluzzii mosquitoes that carry a Paternal Male Bias (PMB) construct. These mosquitoes are part of the pathway ...

Synthetic Homing Endonuclease Gene Drives to Revolutionise Aedes aegypti Biocontrol – Game Changer or Pipe Dream?

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Joshua X.D. Ang, Sebald A.N. Verkuijl, Michelle A.E. Anderson, Luke Alphey,  Current Opinion in Insect Science,  2025.
The increasing burden of Aedes aegypti-borne diseases, particularly dengue, is a growing global concern, further exacerbated by climate change. Current control strategies have proven insufficient, necessitating novel approaches. Synthetic homing endonuclease gene (sHEG) drives ...

An innovation in host responses to escalating genomic conflicts

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Martí, Emiliano et al.,  Trends in Genetics,  2025.
Conflicts between selfish elements and their hosts can trigger rapid structural and regulatory changes in genomes. Chen et al. discovered a novel species-specific innovation in response to a meiotic driver in Drosophila melanogaster. Their discovery highlights a new dimension in ...

Anticipating evolutionary responses of mosquito mating systems to population suppression with mass-reared males

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Bonsall, M.B., Cator, L.J.,  Current Opinion in Insect Science,  68. 2025.
Strategies that rely on the mass release of males to suppress mosquito populations will exert selective pressure on natural mating systems. Here, we investigate how mass releases might affect the mating behaviors of wild target populations. We highlight gaps in our understanding ...

Wolbachia: A bacterial weapon against dengue fever- a narrative review of risk factors for dengue fever outbreaks

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Safaei, S., Derakhshan-Sefidi, M., Karimi, A.,  New Microbes and New Infections,  65. 2025.
Arboviruses constitute the largest known group of viruses and are responsible for various infections that impose significant socioeconomic burdens worldwide, particularly due to their link with insect-borne diseases. The increasing incidence of dengue fever in non-endemic regions ...

Comparison of oviposition and adult trapping to monitor wMel introgression for Wolbachia-based vector control

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Nelson, E., Pereira, T.N., Ribeiro E., et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Wolbachia introgression into Aedes aegypti mosquito populations has been shown to be effective in preventing dengue and is being evaluated for WHO prequalification. Monitoring the long-term introgression of Wolbachia (wMel)-positive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, however, requires ...

Mosquito Sex Separation using Complementation of Selectable Traits and Engineered Neo-Sex Chromosomes

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Zaada, D.S.Y., Toren, O., Krsticevic, F., et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Effective and scalable sex separation remains a critical challenge for mosquito genetic control strategies. Genetic sexing strains (GSS) address this by genetically linking maleness with selectable traits, enabling efficient removal of females before release. Here, we describe a ...

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