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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Atypical meiosis can be adaptive in outcrossed Schizosaccharomyces pombe due to wtf meiotic drivers

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M. A. Bravo Núñez, I. M. Sabbarini, L. E. Eide, R. L. Unckless and S. E. Zanders,  eLife,  9:e57936. 2020.
Here, we demonstrate that in scenarios analogous to outcrossing, wtf drivers generate a fitness landscape in which atypical spores, such as aneuploids and diploids, are advantageous. In this context, wtf drivers can decrease the fitness costs of mutations that disrupt meiotic ...

Modelling the suppression of a malaria vector using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene drive to reduce female fertility

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A. R. North, A. Burt and H. C. J. Godfray,  BMC Biology,  18:98. 2020.
Gene drives based on CRISPR-Cas9 technology are increasingly being considered as tools for reducing the capacity of mosquito populations to transmit malaria, and one of the most promising options is driving endonuclease genes that reduce the fertility of female mosquitoes. Here, ...

Incorporating Characteristics of Gene Drive Engineered Ae. aegypti as Methods to Reduce Dengue and Zika Virus into the Bayesian Network – Relative Risk Model, Using Ponce, Puerto Rico as a Case Study

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S. R. Eikenbary,  WWU Graduate School Collection,  2020.
The Bayesian network relative risk model can perform the risk assessment of gene drive engineered Ae. aegypti for vector control and as part of an adaptive management strategy to reduce dengue and Zika transmission. This study illustrates how the BN-RRM can integrate gene drive ...

Engineered Reproductively Isolated Species Drive Reversible Population Replacement

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A. Buchman, I. Shriner, T. Yang, J. Liu, I. Antoshechkin, J. M. Marshall, M. W. Perry and O. S. Akbari,  bioRxiv,  2020.08.09.242982. 2020.
Engineered reproductive species barriers are useful for impeding gene flow and driving desirable genes into wild populations in a reversible threshold-dependent manner. We engineer multiple reproductively isolated SPECIES and demonstrate their threshold-dependent gene drive ...

Ubiquitous selfish toxin-antidote elements in Caenorhabditis species

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E. Ben-David, P. Pliota, S. A. Widen, A. Koreshova, T. Lemus-Vergara, P. Verpukhovskiy, S. Mandali, C. Braendle, A. Burga and L. Kruglyak,  bioRxiv,  2020.08.06.240564. 2020.
We discovered five maternal-effect Toxin/Antidotes (TAs) in the nematode Caenorhabditis tropicalis and one in C. briggsae. Unlike previously reported TAs, five of these novel toxins do not kill embryos but instead cause larval arrest or developmental delay. Our results show ...

Selfing is the safest sex for Caenorhabditis tropicalis

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L. M. Noble, J. Yuen, L. Stevens, N. Moya, R. Persaud, M. Moscatelli, J. Jackson, C. Braendle, E. C. Andersen, H. S. Seidel and M. V. Rockman,  bioRxiv,  2020.08.07.242032. 2020.
Frequent selfing in Caenorhabditis. tropicalis may be a strategy to avoid gene drive-mediated outbreeding depression. Mating systems have profound effects on genetic diversity and compatibility. Caenorhabditis tropicalis is the least genetically diverse among 3 species of ...

Maintenance management and eradication of established aquatic invaders

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D. Simberloff,  Hydrobiologia,  22. 2020.
The rapid development of technologies based on genetics has engendered excitement about possibly eradicating or controlling terrestrial invaders, and such technologies may also prove useful for certain aquatic invaders. Methods of particular interest, alone or in various ...

Global Governing Bodies: A Pathway for Gene Drive Governance for Vector Mosquito Control

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A. Kelsey, D. Stillinger, T. B. Pham, J. Murphy, S. Firth and R. Carballar-Lejarazú,  American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  2020.
We examined the current institutions and governing bodies among various continents that could have an impact on gene drive governance or the potential to adapt to its future use. Possible governance strategies also are proposed that seek to bridge gaps and promote an ethically ...

Modeling the suppression dynamics of Aedes mosquitoes with mating inhomogeneity

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M. Huang and L. Hu,  Journal of Biological Dynamics,  14:656-678. 2020.
In this work, we introduce a delay differential equation model with mating inhomogeneity to discuss mosquito population suppression based on Wolbachia. Our analyses show that the wild mosquitoes could be eliminated if either the adult mortality rate exceeds the threshold δ∗A ...

Genomic analyses of a livestock pest, the New World screwworm, find potential targets for genetic control programs

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M. J. Scott, J. B. Benoit, R. J. Davis, S. T. Bailey, V. Varga, E. O. Martinson, P. V. Hickner, Z. Syed, G. A. Cardoso, T. T. Torres, M. T. Weirauch, E. H. Scholl, A. M. Phillippy, A. Sagel, M. Vasquez, G. Quintero and S. R. Skoda,  Nature Communications,  3:424. 2020.
We identify and analyze the expression of genes that are likely important for host-seeking behavior (chemosensory), development of larvae in open wounds in warm-blooded animals (heat shock protein, immune response) and for building transgenic strains for genetic control programs ...

Fighting malaria with genetically modified mosquitoes

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E. Nakkazi,  BMJ,  370:m2172. 2020.
Could a bold project to genetically engineer mosquitoes curb the scourge of malaria in Africa? Finding out will require careful science—and public acceptance, writes Esther Nakkazi

Efficient population modification gene-drive rescue system in the malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi

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A. Adolfi, V. M. Gantz, N. Jasinskiene, H.-F. Lee, K. Hwang, E. A. Bulger, A. Ramaiah, J. B. Bennett, G. Terradas, J. J. Emerson, J. M. Marshall, E. Bier and A. A. James,  bioRxiv,  2020.08.02.233056. 2020.
We developed the first recoded gene-drive rescue system for population modification in the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi, that relieves the load in females caused by integration of the drive into the kynurenine hydroxylase gene by rescuing its function. Non-functional ...

Extensive Recombination Suppression and Epistatic Selection Causes Chromosome-Wide Differentiation of a Selfish Sex Chromosome in Drosophila pseudoobscura

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Z. L. Fuller, S. A. Koury, C. J. Leonard, R. E. Young, K. Ikegami, J. Westlake, S. Richards, S. W. Schaeffer and N. Phadnis,  Genetics,  216:205. 2020.
Here, we conduct a multifaceted study of the multiply inverted Drosophila pseudoobscura SR chromosome to understand the evolutionary history, genetic architecture, and present-day dynamics that shape this enigmatic selfish chromosome.

A One-Sided Competition Mathematical Model for the Sterile Insect Technique

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A. Ben Dhahbi, Y. Chargui, S. M. Boulaaras and S. Ben Khalifa,  Complexity,  2020:12. 2020.
We study a simple mathematical model describing the dynamics of a wild-type pest insects population experiencing competition from sterile insects (one-sided competition).

Chemical controllable gene drive in Drosophila

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D. Chae, J. Lee, N. Lee, K. Park, S. J. Moon and H. H. Kim,  ACS Synthetic Biology,  in press. 2020.
Here, we report a chemical-induced control of gene drive. We prepared a CRISPR-based gene drive system that can be removed by a site-specific recombinase, Rippase, the expression of which is induced by the chemical RU486 in fruit flies. Exposure of fruit flies to RU486 resulted ...

Nix alone is sufficient to convert female Aedes aegypti into fertile males and myo-sex is needed for male flight

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A. Aryan, M. A. E. Anderson, J. K. Biedler, Y. M. Qi, J. M. Overcash, A. N. Naumenko, M. V. Sharakhova, C. H. Mao, Z. N. Adelman and Z. J. Tu,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,  117:17702-17709. 2020.
Here, we report the generation of multiple transgenic lines that express Nix under the control of its own promoter. Genetic and molecular analyses of these lines provided insights unattainable from previous transient experiments. We show that the Nix transgene alone, in the ...

The Biochemistry of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility Caused by Endosymbiotic Bacteria

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H. Chen, M. Zhang and M. Hochstrasser,  Genes,  11. 2020.
Many species of arthropods carry maternally inherited bacterial endosymbionts that can influence host sexual reproduction to benefit the bacterium. The most well-known of such reproductive parasites is Wolbachia pipientis. Wolbachia are obligate intracellular ...

The potential for a CRISPR gene drive to eradicate or suppress globally invasive social wasps

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P. J. Lester, M. Bulgarella, J. W. Baty, P. K. Dearden, J. Guhlin and J. M. Kean,  Scientific Reports,  10:12398. 2020.
P. J. Lester, M. Bulgarella, J. W. Baty, P. K. Dearden, J. Guhlin and J. M. Kean (2020). Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69259-6 Gene drives have potential for widespread and cost-efficient pest control, but are highly controversial. We examined a potential gene ...

Providing a policy framework for responsible gene drive research: an analysis of the existing governance landscape and priority areas for further research

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D. Thizy, I. Coche and J. de Vries,  Wellcome Open Research,  2020.
D. Thizy, I. Coche and J. de Vries (2020). Wellcome Open Research. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16023.1 In this manuscript, we review the existing regulatory landscape around gene drive research and map areas of convergence and divergence, as well as gaps in relation to ...

Socrates Untenured: Ethics, Experts, and the Public in the Synthetic Age

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C. Preston,  ISSUES in Science and Technology,  2020.
C. Preston (2020). Three tools have transformed biotechnology over the past decade and a half. Gene reading has made it possible to quickly sequence the genome of any living creature. Gene synthesis has made it possible to construct DNA sequences in the lab from constituent ...

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