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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Meiotic drive against chromosome fusions in butterfly hybrids

Jesper 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 ...
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Intra-lineage microevolution of Wolbachia leads to the emergence of new cytoplasmic incompatibility patterns

Namias A, Ngaku A, Makoundou P, Unal S, Sicard M, Weill M,  PLoS Biology,  2024.
Mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex are worldwide vectors of arbovirus, filarial nematodes, and avian malaria agents. In these hosts, the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), i.e., reduced embryo viability in so-called incompatible ...
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Targeting sex determination to suppress mosquito populations

Ming Li, Nikolay P Kandul,Ruichen Sun, Ting Yang, Elena D Benetta, Daniel J Brogan, Igor Antoshechkin, Héctor M Sánchez C, Yinpeng Zhan, Nicolas A DeBeaubien, YuMin M Loh, Matthew P Su, Craig Montell, John M Marshall, Omar S Akbari,  eLife,  12. 2024.
Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which are all primarily spread by the notorious mosquito Aedes aegypti. Traditional control measures have proven insufficient, necessitating innovations. ...
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Transgenic expression of cif genes from Wolbachia strain wAlbB recapitulates cytoplasmic incompatibility in Aedes aegypti

McNamara, C.J., Ant, T.H., Harvey-Samuel, T. et al.,  Nature Communications,  15. 2024.
The endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia can invade insect populations by modifying host reproduction through cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), an effect that results in embryonic lethality when Wolbachia-carrying males mate with Wolbachia-free females. Here we describe a transgenic ...
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Transforming malaria prevention and control: the prospects and challenges of gene drive technology for mosquito management

Yusuf Amuda Tajudeen, Habeebullah Jayeola Oladipo, Iyiola Olatunji Oladunjoye, Muhammad Kamaldeen Oladipo, Hameedat Damilola Shittu, Imam-Fulani Abdulmumeen, Abdullateef Opeyemi Afolabi and Mona Said El-Sherbini,  Annals of Medicine,  55. 2024.
In the era of insecticides and anti-malarial drug resistance, gene drive technology holds considerable promise for malaria control. Gene drive technology deploys genetic modifications into mosquito populations to impede their ability to transmit the malaria parasite. This can be ...
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A multiplexed, confinable CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive can propagate in caged Aedes aegypti populations

Anderson, M.A.E., Gonzalez, E., Edgington, M.P. et al.,  Nature Communications,  15. 2024.
Aedes aegypti is the main vector of several major pathogens including dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. Classical mosquito control strategies utilizing insecticides are threatened by rising resistance. This has stimulated interest in new genetic systems such as gene ...
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Evidence of Differences in Cellular Regulation of Wolbachia-Mediated Viral Inhibition between Alphaviruses and Flaviviruses

Rainey SM, Lefteri DA, Darby C, Kohl A, Merits A, Sinkins SP.,  Viruses,  16(1):115. 2024.
The intracellular bacterium Wolbachia is increasingly being utilised in control programs to limit the spread of arboviruses by Aedes mosquitoes. Achieving a better understanding of how Wolbachia strains can reduce viral replication/spread could be important for the long-term ...
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Stakeholder engagement in the development of genetically modified mosquitoes for malaria control in West Africa: lessons learned from 10 years of Target Malaria’s work in Mali

Bakara Dicko, Souleymane Kodio, Hatouma Samoura, Fatoumata Traoré, Naima Sykes, Mouhamed Drabo, Delphine Thizy, Isabelle Coche, Benjamin Robinson, Kadiatou Sanogo, Bilkissou Yagouré, Samba Diop, Mamadou B. Coulibaly,  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,  11. 2024.
From 2012 to 2023, the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), based out of the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), was part of the Target Malaria research consortium working towards developing novel gene drive-based tools for controlling ...
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The haplolethal gene wupA of Drosophila exhibits potential as a target for an X-poisoning gene drive

Clancy D. Lawler, Ana Karla Parra Nuñez, Natalia Hernandes, Soumitra Bhide, Isabelle Lohrey, Simon Baxter, Charles Robin,  bioRxiv,  2024.
A synthetic gene drive that targets haplolethal genes on the X-chromosome can skew the sex ratio towards males. Like an ‘X-shredder’ it does not involve ‘homing’ and that has advantages including the reduction of gene drive resistance allele formation. We examine this ...
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Engineered Antiviral Sensor Targets Infected Mosquitoes

Elena Dalla Benetta, Adam J. López-Denman, Hsing-Han Li, Reem A. Masri, Daniel J. Brogan, Michelle Bui, Ting Yang, Ming Li, Michael Dunn, Melissa J. Klein, Sarah Jackson, Kyle Catalan, Kim R. Blasdell, Priscilla Tng, Igor Antoshechkin, Luke S. Alphey, Pra,  The CRISPR Journal,  6:543-556. 2024.
Escalating vector disease burdens pose significant global health risks, as such innovative tools for targeting mosquitoes are critical. CRISPR-Cas technologies have played a crucial role in developing powerful tools for genome manipulation in various eukaryotic organisms. ...
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A bumpy road ahead for genetic biocontainment

George, D.R., Danciu, M., Davenport, P.W. et al,  Nature Communications,  2024.
The environmental release of bioengineered organisms is increasingly being suggested for a variety of applications, including bioremediation, biosequestration, bio-mining, environmental biosensing and conservation. The objectives of many environmental release applications shift ...
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The epidemiology of imported and locally-acquired dengue in Australia, 2012–2022

Asma Sohail, Katherine L Anders, Sarah L McGuinness, Karin Leder,  Journal of Travel Medicine,  2024.
Dengue is the most important arboviral disease globally, and poses ongoing challenges for control including in non-endemic countries with competent mosquito vectors at risk of local transmission through imported cases. We examined recent epidemiological trends in imported and ...
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Recombinant venom proteins in insect seminal fluid reduces female lifespan

Samuel 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 ...
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Maxizyme-mediated suppression of chikungunya virus replication and transmission in transgenic Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Mishra P, Balaraman V, Fraser Jr. M,  Frontiers in Microbiology,  14. 2024.
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne pathogen of significant public health importance. There are currently no prophylactic vaccines or therapeutics available to control CHIKV. One approach to arbovirus control that has been proposed is the replacement of ...
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Mass-Rearing Conditions Do Not Always Reduce Genetic Diversity: The Case of the Mexican Fruit Fly, Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Ruiz-Montoya L, Sánchez-Rosario M, López-Gómez E, Garcia-Bautista M, Canedo-Texón A, Haymer D, Liedo P,  Insects,  15:56. 2024.
The application of the sterile insect technique (SIT) requires the adaptation of insects to mass-rearing conditions. It is generally accepted that this adaptation may include a reduction in genetic diversity and an associated loss of desirable characteristics for the effective ...
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Wolbachia still works when it is warm

McKay, A.,  Nature Ecology and Evolution,  8. 2024.
Wolbachia is a maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacterium that can impede the transmission of viruses such as dengue and Zika by some mosquito vectors to humans. Over the past decade, this self-sustaining disease-control method has been rolled out in cities of increasing size; ...
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Gene drive and genetic sex conversion in the global agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata

Meccariello, A., Hou, S., Davydova, S. et al.,  Nature Communications,  15:372. 2024.
Homing-based gene drives are recently proposed interventions promising the area-wide, species-specific genetic control of harmful insect populations. Here we characterise a first set of gene drives in a tephritid agricultural pest species, the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis ...
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Programmed evolution: Using asexual gene drives to sculpt tumor populations and combat genetic diversity

Justin Pritchard, Scott Leighow, Joshua Reynolds et al.,  Research Square,  2024.
Resistance evolution is responsible for the failure of most targeted anticancer therapies. Tumor heterogeneity is so profound that pre-existing resistance is thought to be guaranteed at the time that advanced disease is detected. The practice of waiting for treatment failure and ...
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Sex or poison? Genetic pest management in the 21st century

Luke Alphey,  BMC Biology,  21:289. 2024.
Pests do enormous damage to human and animal health, to agriculture and to biodiversity, with mosquitoes transmitting pathogens, insect larvae eating crops or invasive rodents threatening the last island refuges of endangered birds. This commentary focuses on insects, ...
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Limited association between Wolbachia and Plasmodium falciparum infections in natural populations of the major malaria mosquito Anopheles moucheti

Théo Mouillaud, Audric Berger, Marie Buysse, Nil Rahola, Josquin Daron, Jean-Pierre Agbor, Sandrine N. Sango, Daniel E. Neafsey, Olivier Duron, Diego Ayala,  Evolutionary Applications,  16:1999-2006. 2024.
Since the discovery of natural malaria vector populations infected by the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia, a renewed interest has arisen for using this bacterium as an alternative for malaria control. Among naturally infected mosquitoes, Anopheles moucheti, a major malaria ...
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