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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Wolbachia endosymbionts manipulate the self-renewal and differentiation of germline stem cells to reinforce fertility of their fruit fly host
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Fruit fly, WolbachiaS. L. Russell, J. R. Castillo and W. T. Sullivan, PLOS Biology, 21:e3002335. 2023.
The alphaproteobacterium Wolbachia pipientis infects arthropod and nematode species worldwide, making it a key target for host biological control. Wolbachia-driven host reproductive manipulations, such as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), are credited for catapulting these ...
General science-technology orientation, specific benefit–risk assessment frame, and public acceptance of gene drive biotechnology
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Governance, Risk and safety, Risk assessment, Stakeholder engagementX. Liu, C. L. Goldsmith, K. E. Kang, A. Vedlitz, Z. N. Adelman, L. W. Buchman, E. Heitman and R. F. Medina, Risk Analysis, 2023.
Abstract With limited understanding of most new biotechnologies, how do citizens form their opinion and what factors influence their attitudes about these innovations? In this study, we use gene drive biotechnology in agricultural pest management as an example and theoretically ...
Incorporating ecology into gene drive modelling
Tags: Ecology, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, ModelingJ. Kim, K. D. Harris, I. K. Kim, S. Shemesh, P. W. Messer and G. Greenbaum, Ecology Letters, 26:S62-S80. 2023.
Abstract Gene drive technology, in which fast-spreading engineered drive alleles are introduced into wild populations, represents a promising new tool in the fight against vector-borne diseases, agricultural pests and invasive species. Due to the risks involved, gene drives have ...
Benefits and risks of gene drives for invasive plant management – the case for common tansy
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Regulation, Risk and safety, Risk assessmentL. Croghan, A. G. Smith, M. A. Tancos, N. O. Anderson and R. L. Becker, Frontiers in Agronomy, 5. 2023.
Invasive plants cause significant environmental and economic damage, but land managers have few control options. Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is prevalent in many US states and is one of the most reported invasive plants in Minnesota. Controlling common tansy poses a ...
Gene drive in plants emerges from infancy
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Selfish genetic elementsM. J. A. Awan, R. Z. Naqvi, I. Amin and S. Mansoor, Trends in Plant Science, 2023.
Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) display biased transmission to offspring. However, their breeding potential has remained obscure. Wang et al. recently reported a natural gene-drive system that can be harnessed to prevent hybrid incompatibility and to develop a synthetic ...
X-rays are as effective as gamma-rays for the sterilization of Glossina palpalis gambiensis Vanderplank, 1911 (Diptera: Glossinidae) for use in the sterile insect technique
Tags: Other arthropods, Sterile insect technique (SIT)B. A. Kaboré, A. Nawaj, H. Maiga, O. Soukia, S. Pagabeleguem, M. S. G. Ouédraogo/Sanon, M. J. B. Vreysen, R. L. Mach and C. J. de Beer, Scientific Reports, 13:17633. 2023.
An area-wide integrated pest management strategy with a sterile insect technique (SIT) component requires a radiation source for the sterilisation of male insects. Self-contained gamma irradiators, which were exclusively used in past SIT programmes, are now facing increasing ...
Cleave and Rescue gamete killers create conditions for gene drive in plants
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Toxin-antidoteO. Georg, L. J. Michelle, I. Tobin and A. H. Bruce, bioRxiv, 2023.10.13.562303. 2023.
Gene drive elements promote the spread of linked traits, even when their presence confers a fitness cost to carriers, and can be used to change the composition or fate of wild populations. Cleave and Rescue (ClvR) drive elements sit at a fixed chromosomal position and include a ...
Wolbachia enhances the survival ofDrosophila infected with fungal pathogens
Tags: Fruit fly, Mosquitoes, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaJ. Perlmutter, I., A. Atadurdyyeva, M. Schedl, E. and R. Unckless, L., bioRxiv, 2023.09.30.560320. 2023.
Wolbachia bacteria of arthropods are at the forefront of basic and translational research on multipartite host-symbiont-pathogen interactions. These microbes are vertically inherited from mother to offspring via the cytoplasm. They are the most widespread endosymbionts on the ...
Overriding Mendelian inheritance in Arabidopsis with a CRISPR toxin-antidote gene drive that impairs pollen germination
Tags: Agriculture, CRISPR, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Toxin-antidoteL. Yang, J. Bingke, C. Jackson and Q. Wenfeng, bioRxiv, 2023.10.10.561637. 2023.
Synthetic gene drives, inspired by natural selfish genetic elements, present transformative potential for disseminating traits that benefit humans throughout wild populations, irrespective of potential fitness costs. Here, we constructed a gene drive system called CRISPR-Assisted ...
Wolbachia interferes with Zika virus replication by hijacking cholesterol metabolism in mosquito cells
Tags: Arbovirus, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaB. Edwards, E. A.-O. X. Ghedin and D. A.-O. Voronin, Microbiology Spectrum, 2023.
Zika virus is a member of the arbovirus Flaviviridae family transmitted by Aedes mosquitos and it is associated with microcephaly in infants born to infected mothers. Wolbachia is an intracellular gram-negative alpha-proteobacteria that infects many species of arthropods, ...
Expansions to the MGDrivE suite for simulating the efficacy of novel gene-drive constructs in the control of mosquito-borne diseases
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, ModelingJ. B. Bennett, S. L. Wu, P. R. Chennuri, K. M. Myles and M. L. Ndeffo-Mbah, BMC Research Notes, 16:258. 2023.
The MGDrivE (MGDrivE 1 and MGDrivE 2) modeling framework provides a flexible and expansive environment for testing the efficacy of novel gene-drive constructs for the control of mosquito-borne diseases. However, the existing model framework did not previously support several ...
Mosquito Embryo Microinjection
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)R. A. Harrell, Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, 2023.
Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes are an important tool in the fight against mosquito-borne disease, both indirectly through their use in research investigating host–pathogen interaction, mosquito olfaction, and anthropomorphic behavior and in future direct uses for ...
The double-edged sword effect of expanding Wolbachia deployment in dengue endemic settings
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaM. G. Pavan, G. A. Garcia, M. R. David and R. Maciel-de-Freitas, The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 27:100610. 2023.
We can use Brazil as a showcase to foresee and avoid a double-edged sword effect associated with Wolbachia releases. Insecticide resistance of native Ae. aegypti populations is spread worldwide (http://aedes.irmapper.com), and positive results should boost Wolbachia deployment in ...
Wolbachia-mediated resistance to Zika virus infection in Aedes aegypti is dominated by diverse transcriptional regulation and weak evolutionary pressures
Tags: Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaE. C. Boehm, A. S. Jaeger, H. J. Ries, D. Castañeda, A. M. Weiler, C. C. Valencia, J. Weger-Lucarelli, G. D. Ebel, S. L. O’Connor, T. C. Friedrich, M. Zamanian and M. T. Aliota, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 17:e0011674. 2023.
A promising candidate for arbovirus control and prevention relies on replacing arbovirus-susceptible Aedes aegypti populations with mosquitoes that have been colonized by the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia and thus have a reduced capacity to transmit arboviruses. This reduced ...
Situating the social sciences in responsible innovation in the global south: the case of gene drive mosquitoes
Tags: Africa, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, GovernanceK. Ledingham, C. Opesen, S. Hartley and S. Neema, Journal of Responsible Innovation, 10:2264100. 2023.
There has been growing attention in recent years on the potential reconfiguration of responsible innovation (RI) to increase its relevance for global challenges in the Global South. This reconfiguration will require a broad and empowered role for social scientists. Yet RI has ...
Next-generation genetic sexing strain establishment in the agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata
Tags: Fruit fly, Genetically modified organisms, Sterile insect technique (SIT)S. Davydova, J. Liu, N. Kandul, P., W. E. Braswell, O. Akbari, S. and A. Meccariello, bioRxiv, 2023.09.29.560088. 2023.
Tephritid fruit fly pests pose an increasing threat to the agricultural industry due to their global dispersion and a highly invasive nature. Here we showcase the feasibility of an early-detection SEPARATOR sex sorting approach through using the non-model Tephritid pest, ...
Supergenes as drivers of ant evolution
Tags: GenomicsM. Chapuisat, Myrmecological News, 33:1-18. 2023.
Ants show striking diversity in social organization, raising major questions on the proximate and ultimate causes of such variation. The shift from one-queen (= monogyne) societies to multi-queen (= polygyne) societies has long been viewed as a phenotypically plastic response to ...
Testing a candidate meiotic drive locus identified by pool sequencing
Tags: Fruit fly, Transmission distortionD. A. Barbash, B. Jin, K. H. C. Wei and A.-M. Dion-Côté, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, 2023.
Meiotic drive biases the transmission of alleles in heterozygous individuals, such that Mendel’s law of equal segregation is violated. Most examples of meiotic drive have been discovered over the past century based on causing sex-ratio distortion or the biased transmission of ...
A natural gene drive element confers speciation in rice
Tags: Agriculture, Genetic incompatibilities, Toxin-antidoteY. Li, S. Liu and R. Shen, Chinese Science Bulletin, 68:3400-3402. 2023.
For a long time, although many important advances have been made in the field of rice hybrid sterility, the specific molecular mechanism behind the "killer-protector"/ "poison-antidote" model has been unclear. Recently, the team of Academician Wan Jianmin of Nanjing Agricultural ...
Engineered and natural gene drives: mechanistically the same, yet not same in kind
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Governance, Risk and safetyR. F. Medina and J. Kuzma, Nature Communications, 14:5994. 2023.
We propose the use of the terms natural gene drive (NGD) and engineered gene drive (EGD) arguing against James et al.1, who think both should be included within the term “gene drive”, based on their mechanistic similarities. Thanks to CRISPR-Cas-based gene editing, engineered ...

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