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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Determining the Sterilization Doses under Hypoxia for the Novel Black Pupae Genetic Sexing Strain of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)
Tags: Fruit fly, Genetic biocontrol, Sterile insect technique (SIT)P. D. Giustina, T. Mastrangelo, S. Ahmad, G. Mascarin and C. Caceres, Insects, 12. 2021.
Our study reports for the first time the dose-sterility response under hypoxia for two different A. fraterculus strains. The pupae were derived from a bisexual strain (a Brazilian-1 population) and a recently developed genetic sexing strain (GSS-89). Two hours prior to ...
Systematic identification of plausible pathways to potential harm via problem formulation for investigational releases of a population suppression gene drive to control the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae in West Africa
Tags: Anopheles, CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Regulation, Risk assessmentJ. B. Connolly, J. D. Mumford, S. Fuchs, G. Turner, C. Beech, A. R. North and A. Burt, Malaria Journal, 20:170. 2021.
Population suppression gene drive has been proposed as a strategy for malaria vector control. A CRISPR-Cas9-based transgene homing at the doublesex locus (dsxFCRISPRh) has recently been shown to increase rapidly in frequency in, and suppress, caged laboratory populations of the ...
Sterile Insect Technique in an Integrated Vector Management Program against Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus in the Valencia Region (Spain): Operating Procedures and Quality Control Parameters
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Mosquito husbandry, Sterile insect technique (SIT), Vector controlC. Tur, D. Almenar, S. Benlloch-Navarro, R. Argilés-Herrero, M. Zacarés, V. Dalmau and I. Pla, Insects, 12. 2021.
The Agriculture Department of the Valencian Region is promoting an ongoing pilot project to evaluate the efficacy of an integrated vector management program (IVM) based on the use of the SIT as the main method of control. The laboratory studies for evaluating the entomological ...
Experimenting with co-development: a qualitative study of gene drive research for malaria control in Mali
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Risk and safety, Stakeholder engagementS. Hartley, K. Ledingham, R. Owen, S. Leonelli, S. Diarra and S. Diop, Social Science and Medicine, 2021.
Our findings suggest co-development is opening up previously expert-dominated spaces as researchers attempt to take responsibility for the societal implications of their work. However, its main function is as a project management tool to enable and instrumentally support ...
Ethics of Genome Editing
Tags: Agriculture, Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Gene editing, Governance, PolicyEuropean Group on Ethics, European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, 2021.
This Opinion addresses the profound ethical questions raised and revived by them. It analyses various domains of application, from human health to animal experimentation, from livestock breeding to crop variety and to gene drives. With its wide view across areas, it identifies ...
Evaluating unintended consequences of intentional species introductions and eradications for improved conservation management
Tags: Biological control, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrolD. E. Pearson, T. J. Clark and P. G. Hahn, Conserv Biol, 2021.
We conducted a global literature review of these conservation actions to quantify how often unintended outcomes occur and to elucidate their underlying causes. We found that studies reported intended outcomes in 51% of cases, a combination of intended outcomes and unintended ...
The ethical scientist in a time of uncertainty
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Policy, Population suppression, Stakeholder engagement, Target malariaL. Zoloth, Cell, 184:1430-1439. 2021.
Using the example of gene drives for malaria control to explore the problem of deep uncertainty in biomedical research, I argue that profound uncertainty is an essential feature. Applying the language and presumptions of the discipline of philosophical ethics, I describe three ...
Driving to Safety: CRISPR-Based Genetic Approaches to Reducing Antibiotic Resistance
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive syntheticE. Bier and V. Nizet, Trends in Genetics, 2021.
The complex and challenging problem of reducing antibiotic resistance (AR) requires a network of both societal and science-based solutions to preserve the most lifesaving pharmaceutical intervention known to medicine. In addition to developing new classes of antibiotics, it is ...
Ultra-conserved sequences in the genomes of highly diverse Anopheles mosquitoes, with implications for malaria vector control
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Population suppression, Replicator/site directed nuclease, ResistanceS. M. O'Loughlin, A. J. Forster, S. Fuchs, T. Dottorini, T. Nolan, A. Crisanti and A. Burt, G3-Genes Genomes Genetics, 2021.
Here we search for conserved sequences of 18bp and over in an alignment of 21 Anopheles genomes, spanning an evolutionary timescale of 100 million years, and characterise the resulting sequences according to their location and function. Over 8000 ultra-conserved elements were ...
Meiotic Cas9 expression mediates genotype conversion in the male and female mouse germline.
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Population suppression, RodentsA. J. Weitzel, H. A. Grunwald, R. Levina, V. M. Gantz, S. M. Hedrick, E. Bier and K. L. Cooper, 2021.03.16.435716, 2021.
We previously showed that such a system of genotype conversion from heterozygous to homozygous after a sequence targeted CRISPR/Cas9 double strand DNA break is feasible in the female mouse germline. In the male germline, however, all double strand breaks were instead repaired by ...
Differentiated impacts of human interventions on nature: Scaling the conversation on regulation of gene technologies
Tags: Ethics, Genetically modified organisms, Governance, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyJ. A. Heinemann, D. J. Paull, S. Walker and B. Kurenbach, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 9. 2021.
Biotechnology describes a range of human activities in medicine, agriculture, and environmental management. One biotechnology in particular, gene technology, continues to evolve both in capacity and potential to benefit and harm society. The purpose of this article is to offer a ...
Genetically Encoded CRISPR components Yield Efficient Gene Editing in the Invasive Pest, Drosophila suzukii
Tags: CRISPR, Fruit fly, Gene drive synthetic, Gene editingN. P. Kandul, E. J. Belikoff, J. Liu, A. Buchman, F. Li, A. Yamamoto, T. Yang, I. Shriner, M. J. Scott and O. Akbari, bioRxiv, 2021.03.15.435483. 2021.
Here we have developed transgenic strains that encode three different terminators and four different promoters to express Cas9 in both the soma and/or germline of SWD. The Cas9 lines were evaluated through genetic crossing to transgenic lines that encode single guide RNAs ...
Ugandan stakeholder hopes and concerns about gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control: new directions for gene drive risk governance
Tags: Africa, Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Stakeholder engagementS. Hartley, R. D. J. Smith, A. Kokotovich, C. Opesen, T. Habtewold, K. Ledingham, B. Raymond and C. B. Rwabukwali, Malaria Journal, 20:149. 2021.
The African Union’s High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies identified gene drive mosquitoes as a priority technology for malaria elimination. The first field trials are expected in 5–10 years in Uganda, Mali or Burkina Faso. In preparation, regional and international ...
Lessons from Drosophila: Engineering Genetic Sexing Strains with Temperature-Sensitive Lethality for Sterile Insect Technique Applications
T. N. M. Nguyen, A. Choo and S. W. Baxter, Insects, 12. 2021.Some of the most successful Genetic Sexing Strains (GSS) reared and released for SIT control were developed for Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly), Ceratitis capitata, and carry a temperature sensitive lethal (tsl) mutation that eliminates female but not male embryos when heat ...
Current Effector and Gene-Drive Developments to Engineer Arbovirus-Resistant Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) for a Sustainable Population Replacement Strategy in the Field
Tags: Aedes, Arbovirus, Gene drive synthetic, Mosquitoes, Population modification/replacementW. R. Reid, K. E. Olson and A. W. E. Franz, J Med Entomol, 2021.
Conventional mosquito control efforts based on insecticide treatments and/or the use of bednets and window curtains are currently insufficient to reduce arbovirus prevalence in affected regions. Novel, genetic strategies that are being developed involve the genetic manipulation ...
When More is Less: Mosquito Population Suppression Using Sterile, Incompatible and Genetically Modified Male Mosquitoes
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Genetic biocontrol, Incompatible insect technique, Mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT), WolbachiaS. L. Dobson, Journal of Medical Entomology, 58:1980-1986. 2021.
The current review of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is motivated by new technologies and the recent renaissance of male release field trials, which is driving an evolution in mosquito control and regulation. Practitioners that are releasing male mosquitoes would do well to ...
femaleless Controls Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation Pathways in Females of Anopheles Mosquitoes
Tags: Gene editing, Genetic biocontrol, Malaria, Mosquitoes, Population suppressionE. Krzywinska, L. Ferretti, J. Li, J.-C. Li, C.-H. Chen and J. Krzywinski, Current Biology, 31:1084-1091.e4. 2021.
Here we show that in the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, a gene, which likely arose in the Anopheles lineage and which we call femaleless (fle), controls sex determination in females by regulating splicing of dsx and fruitless (fru; another terminal gene within a ...
Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation: femaleless Is the Link in Anopheles Mosquitoes
Tags: Genetic biocontrol, Genetics, Mosquitoes, Population suppressionM. Scott, Current Biology, 31:R260-R263. 2021.
A new study finds that the femaleless gene is essential for sexual development and repression of X-chromosome dosage compensation in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. This could provide the basis for a new genetic approach to control this pest.
Experts’ moral views on gene drive technologies: a qualitative interview study
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Stakeholder engagementN. de Graeff, K. R. Jongsma and A. L. Bredenoord, BMC Medical Ethics, 22:25. 2021.
Gene drive technologies (GDTs) promote the rapid spread of a particular genetic element within a population of non-human organisms. Potential applications of GDTs include the control of insect vectors, invasive species and agricultural pests. Whether, and if so, under what ...
Eliminating Mosquitoes with Precision Guided Sterile Males
Tags: Aedes, Dengue, Gene drive synthetic, Mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)M. Li, T. Yang, M. Bui, S. Gamez, T. Wise, N. P. Kandul, J. Liu, L. Alcantara, H. Lee, J. R. Edula, R. Raban, Y. Zhan, Y. Wang, N. DeBeaubien, J. Chen, H. M. Sanchez C, J. B. Bennett, I. Antoshechkin, C. Montell, J. M. Marshall and O. S. Akbari, bioRxiv, 2021.03.05.434167. 2021.
Here we develop a molecular genetic control system termed precision guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) in Aedes aegypti. PgSIT uses a simple CRISPR-based approach to generate sterile males that are deployable at any life stage. Supported by mathematical models, we ...

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