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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Advances in CRISPR gene drives for mosquito population control

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Robyn Raban, Anthony A James, Omar S Akbari,  Current Opinion in Microbiology,  90. 2026.
CRISPR-based gene drive (GD) systems bias allele inheritance during meiosis, enabling transgenes to spread at rates exceeding Mendel’s law of segregation. This capability underlies their potential as powerful tools for controlling mosquito-borne diseases. GDs can be engineered ...

Mathematical modelling of Wolbachia replacement in Aedes aegypti for dengue control: a scoping review

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Katie Tiley, Laith Yakob, Kathleen O'Reilly, Oliver Brady,  Proc Biol Sci,  293. 2026.
Wolbachia replacement in dengue virus vectors is a promising tool for controlling transmission, and models can explore its potential in novel and complex scenarios. We analyse how research questions in Wolbachia replacement modelling have developed over time and in response to ...

Dengue Suppression by Male Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitoes

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Jue Tao Lim, Ph.D., Chee-Seng Chong, Ph.D., Chia-Chen Chang, Ph.D., et al.,  New England Journal of Medicine,  2026.
Wild-type female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that mate with male A. aegypti mosquitoes that have been infected with the wAlbB strain of Wolbachia pipientis bacteria produce nonviable offspring owing to cytoplasmic incompatibility. Repeated releases of wolbachia-infected males ...

Evaluating paratransgenesis using engineered symbiotic bacteria for Plasmodium inhibition in mosquito vectors: A systematic review

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Cleanclay WD, Kernyuy FB, Kintung IF, et al,  PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  2026.
Malaria is one of the key world health problems, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the rising resistance to insecticides and antimalarial drugs is posing a threat to the current control mechanisms. New strategies are urgently needed to break the cycle of the spread of ...

Signatures of sex ratio distortion in humans

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James Guy Baldwin-Brown, Sergiusz Wesolowski, Raquel Mae Reisinger, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2026.
Segregation distortion, the disproportionate inheritance of selfish genetic elements, is an important evolutionary force. While many species carry distorters, it is not clear if humans do. Major limitations for detecting human distortion are the small size of human families and ...

The evolution of the sterile insect technique from concept to global application

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Kostas Bourtzis, Marc F. Schetelig, Walther Enkerlin, Rui Pereira,  Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science,  5:180-211. 2026.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a species-specific, environment-friendly and cost-effective method for controlling insect pests and disease vectors. It involves colonization and mass-rearing of the target species, sterilization, typically by ionizing radiation, and ...

Assessing target genes for homing suppression gene drive

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Xu, X., Fang, J., Chen, J. et al.,  The EMBO Journal,  2026.
Gene drives are engineered alleles that bias their own inheritance in offspring, enabling the spread of specific traits throughout a population. Targeting female fertility genes in a gene drive can be an efficient strategy for population suppression. In this study, we ...

Emerging trends in genome editing of wild animals

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Blix, T., Myhr, A.I.,  Transgenic Research,  35. 2026.
Globally, nearly one million species are currently threatened with extinction, highlighting the need for more efficient solutions to biological conservation. Genome editing, which allows for faster and more precise changes in genomes, is a promising technique for boosting ...

Generating cisgenic sexing strains in insect pests

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Davydova, S., Liu, J., Kandul, N.P. et al.,  Communications Biology,  2026.
Insect pest population control via sterile insect technique markedly benefits from separation by sex prior to release. To simplify this process, traditional genetics has been deployed to develop genetic sexing strains (GSSs) for several disease vectors and agricultural pests of ...

A conjugal gene drive-like system efficiently suppresses antibiotic resistance in a bacterial population

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Kaduwal, S., Stuart, E.C., Auradkar, A. et al.,  npj Antimicrobials and Resistance,  4. 2026.
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is an escalating public health threat, necessitating innovative strategies to control resistant bacterial populations. One promising approach involves engineering genetic elements that can spread within microbial communities to eliminate AR genes. ...

Precision pest management: Genome editing tools, specifically CRISPR/Cas9 and future prospects

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Ankush Saini, Neha Sharma, Nidhi Sharma, et al.,  Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology,  218. 2026.
The growing resistance to synthetic insecticides and Bt toxins, alongside persistent crop losses despite heavy pesticide application, highlights the urgent need for safer, sustainable and efficient pest management strategies. This review presents genome editing as a precise and ...

Field implementation of the sterile insect technique against Aedes aegypti in Recife, Brazil: operational challenges and impact of release frequency on vector dynamics

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Macedo, A.T., Carvalho, D.O., Gomez, M. et al.,  Infectious Diseases of Poverty,  15. 2026.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environmentally friendly tool for suppressing Aedes aegypti populations. While promising in controlled settings, its application in large urban environments presents logistical and biological challenges. This trial focused on releasing ...

Serratia species as paratransgenic vehicles: potential applications in vector-borne disease control

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Mahor S, Gupta H. 0.,  Clinical Microbiology Reviews,  2026.
Paratransgenesis employs insect-associated bacteria to deliver antipathogen effectors and is an emergent complementary strategy for vector control. This review synthesizes current evidence for Serratia species as paratransgenic vehicles, combining mechanistic insights into ...

Biocontrol practitioners’ perspectives on emerging genetic-based technologies for weed management

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Rafter, M.A., Kumaran, N., Brookes, D.R. et al.,  BioControl,  2026.
Weed biocontrol researchers have been at the forefront of developing management solutions for invasive weeds for over 100 years and have a unique perspective to offer on the emerging field of genetic-based technologies such as gene drive and RNAi. As part of the XVI ...

Mapping Gene Drive Dynamics onto Mendelian Models

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Zihang Wen, Monica Wan, Gili Greenbaum, Oana Carja,  bioRxiv,  2026.
CRISPR-based gene drives bias their own transmission and can spread even when deleterious, giving rise to evolutionary dynamics that can be substantially more complex than those governed by standard Mendelian inheritance. Identifying conditions under which gene-drive dynamics can ...

The Evolutionary Genomics of Meiotic Drive

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Daven C Presgraves, R Kelly Dawe, Kelly A Dyer, et al.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  2026.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that gain transmission advantages by distorting equal, Mendelian segregation. For decades, biologists have considered meiotic drivers as interesting, albeit esoteric, case studies. It is now clear, however, that meiotic drive is more ...

Bisexual releases are as effective as male-only releases to control Drosophila suzukii with the sterile insect technique

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Alexandra Labbetoul, Simon Fellous,  Pest Management Science,  2026.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) suppresses insect reproduction by repeatedly releasing sterile insects and allowing them to mate with insects of the same species in the wild. While the classical SIT relies on sterile males mating with wild females, there is a debate regarding ...

D. melanogaster meiotic driver Stellate compromises sperm development by impeding a process of nuclear envelope remodeling

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Xuefeng Meng, Yukiko M Yamashita,,  Genetics,  2026.
Meiotic drive is a phenomenon that violates Mendel’s Law of Equal Segregation, leading to biased transmission of the meiotic driver to the offspring. D. melanogaster Stellate (Ste) is an X-linked meiotic driver that preferentially harms Y-chromosome-bearing spermatids, thereby ...

Targeted editing of pericentromeric satellite DNA alters sensitivity to meiotic drive

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Danna G. Eickbush, Jabale Rahmat, Matthew Lindsay, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2026.
Eukaryotic genomes are abundant in satellite DNA (satDNA): large blocks of tandemly-repeated sequences that accumulate in heterochromatic genome regions. SatDNAs are dynamic in their genomic location and abundance across species. Some satDNAs overlap essential genome regions such ...

Drive, suppression and escape from suppression of a selfish chromosome

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Jackson Ridges, Jackson Bladen, Robert Unckless, Nitin Phadnis,  Proc Biol Sci,  21. 2026.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that are predicted to spark rapid intra-genomic arms races with their suppressors. However, the long-term persistence of unsuppressed selfish chromosomes in natural populations violates these theoretical expectations. The Drosophila ...

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