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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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 ...

A predatory gene drive for targeted control of self-transmissible plasmids

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Ryan Tsoi et al.,  Science Advances,  11. 2025.
Suppressing plasmid transfer in microbial communities has profound implications due to the role of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in spreading and maintaining diverse functional traits such as metabolic functions, virulence factors, and antibiotic resistance. However, existing ...

Global asymptotic stability in a delay stage structured model for mosquito population suppression

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Huang, Mg., Yu, Js.,  Applied Mathematics,  40:112-136. 2025.
A promising avenue to control mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, and Zika involves releasing male mosquitoes carrying the bacterium Wolbachia in wild areas to drive female sterility by a mechanism called cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). In this work, we initiate ...

Exploiting Wolbachia as a Tool for Mosquito-Borne Disease Control: Pursuing Efficacy, Safety, and Sustainability

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Moretti, R., Lim, J. T., Ferreira, A. G. A., et al,  Pathogens,  14:285. 2025.
Despite the application of control measures, mosquito-borne diseases continue to pose a serious threat to human health. In this context, exploiting Wolbachia, a common symbiotic bacterium in insects, may offer effective solutions to suppress vectors or reduce their competence in ...

Adjacent spillover efficacy of Wolbachia for control of dengue: emulation of a cluster randomised target trial

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Lim, J.T., Mailepessov, D., Chong, C.S. et al.,  BMC Medicine,  23. 2025.
Matings between male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with wAlbB strain of Wolbachia and wild-type females yield non-viable eggs, thereby suppressing Ae. aegypti abundance in the field. We evaluated the spillover efficacy of releasing wAlbB-infected Ae. aegypti male ...

Challenges in developing a split drive targeting dsx for the genetic control of the invasive malaria vector Anopheles stephensi

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Larrosa-Godall, M., Ang, J.X.D., Leftwich, P.T. et al.,  Parasites & Vectors,  18. 2025.
Anopheles stephensi is a competent malaria vector mainly present in southern Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Since 2012, it has invaded several countries of eastern Africa, creating an emerging risk of urban transmission. Urgent efforts are required to develop novel and more ...

Functional constraints of wtf killer meiotic drivers

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Nidamangala Srinivasa A., Campbell S., Venkatesan S., et al.,  PLOS Genetics,  21. 2025.
Diploid organisms, such as humans, have two copies of most genes. Only one copy, however, is transmitted through gametes (e.g., sperm and egg) to any given offspring. Alternate copies of the same gene are expected to be equally represented in the gametes, resulting in random ...

Mark-Release-Recapture of Packed and Shipped Aedes aegypti with Wolbachia: Implications for Conducting Remote Incompatible Insect Technique Programs

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Ohm, J. R., Lynd, A., McGowan, A., et al.,  The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  2025.
Male mosquitoes containing the endosymbiont Wolbachia (Wb+) can be used as a tool to suppress wild mosquito populations through a technique termed incompatible insect technique (IIT). IIT programs reduce wild mosquitoes via incompatible matings between released males and wild ...

Gene drives. Technologies for spreading genetic modifications in populations. TAB-Fokus

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König, H., Kolleck, A., Sauter, A.,  TAB-Fokus,  48. 2025.
Gene drives have the potential to help solve major challenges, including the fight against invasive species or vector-borne diseases such as malaria. These hopes are offset by technical and scientific challenges as well as environmental risks. The policy brief TAB-Fokus no. 48 on ...

Engineering drive–selection balance for localized population suppression with neutral dynamics

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Willis, K., and Burt, A.,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  122. 2025.
While the release of sterile males has been highly successful in suppressing some pest populations, it is impractical for many species due to the males disappearing after a single generation, necessitating large, repeated releases to maintain sufficient impact. Synthetic gene ...

Gene drive: communication, hype, and the publics

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Boëte, C.,  Journal of Medical Entomology,  2025.
Engineered gene drive (EGD) systems are probably the most high-tech approach considered for their potential role in the control of vector-borne diseases. Interestingly, the rhetoric around it often goes along with a negative presentation of the current “conventional” tools ...

wStri spread dynamics in Nilaparvata lugens via discrete mathematical models

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Zheng, B., Yang, H., Elaydi, S. et al.,  Journal of Mathematical Biology,  90. 2025.
Wolbachia, an intracellular bacterium, is well-known for inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility, which has become a promising and environmentally sustainable strategy for controlling pest populations. The strain wStri, specifically identified in Nilaparvata lugens (brown ...

A comparative assessment of self-limiting genetic control strategies for population suppression

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Yue Han, Jackson Champer,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  2025.
Genetic control strategies are promising solutions for control of pest populations and invasive species. Methods utilizing repeated releases of males such as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal (RIDL), self-limiting gene drives, and gene ...

CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing in the Diamondback Moth: Current Progress, Challenges, and Prospects

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Asad, M., Chang, Y., Liao, J., & Yang, G.,  International Journal of Molecular Sciences,  26:1515. 2025.
The development of site-specific genome-editing tools like CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) and its associated protein, Cas9, is revolutionizing genetic engineering with its highly efficient mechanism, offering the potential for effective pest ...

Engineering gene drive docking sites in a haplolethal locus in Anopheles gambiae

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Andrea L Smidler, Eryney A Marrogi, Sean Scot, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Gene drives are selfish genetic elements which promise to be powerful tools in the fight against vector-borne diseases such as malaria. We previously proposed population replacement gene drives designed to better withstand the evolution of resistance by homing through haplolethal ...

Reenacting a mouse genetic evolutionary arms race in yeast reveals that SLXL1/SLX compete with SLY1/2 for binding to Spindlins

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M.F. Arlt,A.N. Kruger,C.M. Swanepoel,& J.L. Mueller,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  122. 2025.
In the house mouse, an evolutionary arms race between proteins encoded by the X-linked Slxl1/Slx and Y-linked Sly gene families during spermatogenesis can distort offspring sex ratio, but how these proteins compete remains unknown. We report how SLXL1/SLX competes with SLY1/SLY2 ...

RNA-guided nucleases enable a gene drive of insertion sequences in plasmids

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Kepler S. Mears, Fernando W. Rossine, Natalia Quinones-Olvera, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and the interactions between them are a major source of evolutionary innovation. Insertion sequences, the simplest MGEs usually encoding only the necessary genes for transposition and maintenance, are widespread in bacterial genomes, and are ...

Wolbachia-based mosquito control: Environmental perspectives on population suppression and replacement strategies

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Bhattacharyya, J., Roelke, D.L.,  Acta Tropica,  262. 2025.
Mosquito-borne diseases pose a significant threat to global health, and traditional mosquito control methods often fall short of effectiveness. A promising alternative is the biological control strategy of transinfecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium capable of ...

Exploiting venom toxins in paratransgenesis to prevent mosquito-borne disease

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French, S., Da Silva, R., Storm, J. et al.,  Parasites & Vectors,  18. 2025.
Mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of numerous pathogens, including Plasmodium parasites, arboviruses and filarial worms. They pose a significant risk to public health with over 200 million cases of malaria per annum and approximately 4 billion people at risk of ...

Antagonistic kinesin-14s within a single chromosomal drive haplotype

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Meghan J. Brady, Anjali Gupta, Jonathan I. Gent, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
In maize, there are two meiotic drive systems that operate on large tandem repeat arrays called knobs that are found on chromosome arms. One meiotic drive haplotype, Abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10), encodes two kinesin proteins that interact with two distinct tandem repeat arrays ...

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