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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Developing Y chromosome sex ratio distorters in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster

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Yael Arien, Chen Zacharia, Elad Yonah, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
CRISPR-Cas9 sex ratio distortion (SRD) systems can suppress insect populations by biasing progeny toward males, but realizing such systems requires reliable Cas9 expression from insect Y chromosomes. Here, we tested whether the spermatocyte-specific betaTub85D promoter can ...

Successful suppression of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) with the sterile insect technique also results in larger female mosquitoes

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Katherine G Evans, Rachel Morreale, Steven Stenhouse, et al.,  Journal of Medical Entomology,  2025.
Sterile insect technique (SIT) is an effective method for controlling pests and has been increasing in popularity to control Aedes mosquitoes. SIT involves inundating an area with sterilized male mosquitoes to reduce egg hatch by reducing the number of fertile matings and ...

Intermittent releases: a modelling approach for sterile insect technique in mosquito control

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Bhattacharyya, J., Banerjee, M. & Banerjee, S,  Journal of Mathematical Biology,  91. 2025.
An unconventional and environmentally friendly mosquito management approach offers a sustainable solution that protects both the environment and human health. One such method is the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which holds promise as a mosquito control strategy by releasing ...

Selection, counterselection, and conditional gene expression for genetic biocontrol of insects

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Melanie Hempel, Zhijian Tu,  Insect Science,  2025.
Genetic biocontrol methods are species-specific ways to suppress or modify pest insect populations to mitigate their economic or health impact. Successful genetic biocontrol often requires mass releases of only males of the target species. Reliable and cost-effective sex ...

Pervasive suppressors halt the spread of selfish Segregation Distorter in a natural population

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Ching-Ho Chang, Tyler Handler, Nick Fuda, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that subvert Mendelian inheritance to increase their own transmission, yet they are typically found at low frequencies across natural populations. The factors that limit their spread remain unclear. To investigate this paradox, we ...

Exploring experts’ uncertainties about gene drive technology for agricultural pest control in the U.S.: a qualitative study to inform innovation and decision-making

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Barry, N., Barnhill, S.K. & Johnson, B.B.,  Environment Systems and Decisions,  45. 2025.
As experts consider what it might look like for gene drives to manage agricultural pests, there remain several uncertainties across a broad range of issues, including technical, ecological, regulatory, and social implications. Drawing on 25 expert interviews, we parse out these ...

Requirements for designing cluster randomised control trials to detect suppression of malaria vector population densities

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Hancock, P.A., Hui, TY.J., Epopa, P.S. et al.,  BMC Biology,  23. 2025.
Novel interventions for mosquito-borne disease control which release modified mosquitoes that are sterilised or genetically modified to cause offspring inviability are progressing towards field applications. Cluster randomised control trials (CRCTs) could provide robust ...

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

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Smidler, A.L., Marrogi, E.A., Scott, S. et al.,  Scientific Reports,  15. 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 ...

Finding the perfect promoter: Correlating single-cell transcriptome data with gene drive performance

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Yingke Wu, Yunchen Xia, Ziyin Yao, et al.,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Gene drive can control pathogen transmission or suppress vector populations by spreading drive alleles with super-Mendelian inheritance. CRISPR homing drive currently represents the most powerful type, and regulating Cas9 expression with specific promoters has been effective for ...

CRISPR/Cas9-germline editing of Biomphalaria glabrata: A breakthrough in genetic modification of snails that transmit schistosomiasis

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Kouhei Oonuma et al.,  Science Advances,  11. 2025.
Human schistosomiasis remains one of the most devastating parasitic diseases worldwide, and the development of genetically modified vector snails has long been a goal in the field. Here, we report the successful creation of genetically modified Biomphalaria glabrata, an ...

Systemic tumor-targeting gene drive vectors proactively eliminate drug resistance in solid tumors

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Scott M Leighow, Michael Hemann, Justin Robert Pritchard,  bioRxiv,  2025.
While targeted therapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, drug resistance remains a major barrier to their curative potential. We recently demonstrated biological proof-of-concept for selection gene drive circuits, a technology that overwrites disease evolution to ...

Bacteria-mediated dsRNA delivery for mosquito-borne virus control

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Mine Altinli, Sean P. Leonard, Alain Kohl, et al.,  Trends in Parasitology,  41:880-893. 2025.
Mosquito-borne viruses represent an increasing global public health threat, exacerbated by urbanisation and climate change, thus making effective mosquito control essential. RNA interference (RNAi), a sequence-specific gene regulation mechanism, can be a flexible vector control ...

Wolbachia-Based biocontrol of Aedes aegypti: Current Progress, Challenges, and future prospects

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Ashif Ahamed, Safdar Ali, Mehboob Hoque,  Journal of Invertebrate Pathology,  2025.
Wolbachia is used as potential bio-control tool to reduce the dengue mosquitoes and also to reduce dengue virus (DENV) load in transinfected Aedes aegypti. Different field trials including the ones by the World Mosquito Program (WMP) have deployed Wolbachia carrying DENV ...

The Stellate meiotic drive system of Drosophila melanogaster is active in contemporary populations

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Benjamin K McCormick, Daniel A Barbash, Andrew G Clark,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Meiotic drivers are selfish elements that bias their own transmission so that they are overrepresented among the functional gametes produced. The selective costs imposed by drivers on their hosts may trigger intragenomic conflict, promoting the evolution of suppressors and ...

Impact of larval diet on fitness outcomes of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with wAlbB and wMelM

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Md Yatim, M.F., Ross, P.A., Gu, X. et al.,  Parasites Vectors,  18. 2025.
Releases of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti are being used to effectively control diseases caused by arboviruses, such as dengue. A well-balanced larval diet is essential for producing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes with optimal fitness for release. In this study, four diets ...

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

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Xuefeng M Meng, Yukiko M Yamashita,  bioRxiv,  2025.
Meiotic drive is a phenomenon that violates Mendels 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 ...

Dispersal and survival of gamma-irradiated Culex quinquefasciatus: Implications for sterile insect technique applications

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Nungki Hapsari Suryaningtyas, Raden Wisnu Nurcahyo, Beni Ernawan, et al.,  Open Veterinary Journal,  15:3054-3062. 2025.
Culex quinquefasciatus is a major vector of filariasis and other mosquito-borne diseases. The sterile insect technique (SIT) has been widely used to suppress mosquito populations, but its effectiveness depends on the dispersal, survival, and competitiveness of sterile males. This ...

Estimated cost and operational structure of pgSIT malaria vector control programs in selected West African countries

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William A.C. Gendron, Robyn Raban, Agastya Mondal, et al.,  Scientific African,  29. 2025.
Malaria control has primarily been achieved through vector control, but current methods are insufficient to achieve elimination. Precision guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) is a mosquito suppression technique that generates sterile male mosquitoes for mass release. Our ...

The impact of sterile insect technique processes on the performance of tephritid flies

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Mayren Sánchez-Rosario, Jorge Toledo, Walther Enkerlin,  Insect Science,  2025.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a pest control method that has been successful in controlling various species of fruit flies of economic importance worldwide. However, SIT procedures can affect the performance of mass-reared sterile fruit flies, compromising the SIT ...

The role of the transformer gene in sex determination and its employment in CRISPR/Cas9-based homing gene drive in the global fruit pest Drosophila suzukii

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Dan Deng, Xueying Yi, Wen Wen, Liuqing He, Wei Peng,  Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,  184. 2025.
Sex determination of Diptera is established by the cascade genes such as transformer (tra), though the primary signals for sex determination differ among different insects. Here, we report the isolation, expression and function of tra gene in an invasive pest, Drosophila ...

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