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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Gene drives: benefits, risks, and possible applications
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safetyA. Deplazes-Zemp, U. Grossniklaus, F. Lefort, P. Müller, J. Romeis, A. Rüegsegger, N. Schoenenberger and E. Spehn, Swiss Academies Factsheets, 15. 2020.
Gene drives are genetic elements that skew the pattern of inheritance of a given characteristic in sexually reproducing organisms. They can be used to spread a characteristic that can alter or even reduce the numbers of individuals in wild populations of a certain species. As ...
CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive technology to control transmission of vector-borne parasitic infections
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Malaria, Synthetic biology, Vector controlM. Nateghi Rostami, Parasite Immunology, preprint:e12762. 2020.
Gene drive is the process of copying of an endonuclease-containing cassette that leads to increased frequency of inheritance of the desired traits in a targeted population. CRISPR/Cas9 technology is advancing genetic manipulation of insects in the field of gene drive ...
Can CRISPR gene drive work in pest and beneficial haplodiploid species?
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic engineering, Pest managementJ. Li, O. Aidlin Harari, A.-L. Doss, L. L. Walling, P. W. Atkinson, S. Morin and B. E. Tabashnik, Evolutionary Applications, 2020.
Gene drives based on CRISPR/Cas9 have the potential to reduce the enormous harm inflicted by crop pests and insect vectors of human disease, as well as to bolster valued species. In contrast with extensive empirical and theoretical studies in diploid organisms, little is known ...
Islands as Laboratories: Indigenous Knowledge and Gene Drives in the Pacific
Tags: Ethics, Gene drive synthetic, Oceania, Stakeholder engagementR. I. Taitingfong, Human Biology, 91:179-188. 2020.
This article argues that the genetic engineering technology known as gene drive must be evaluated in the context of the historic and ongoing impacts of settler colonialism and military experimentation on indigenous lands and peoples. After defining gene drive and previewing some ...
A Protamine Knockdown Mimics the Function of Sd in Drosophila melanogaster
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Transmission distortionL. F. Gingell and J. R. McLean, G3-Genes Genomes Genetics, 10:2111-2115. 2020.
Segregation Distorter (SD) is an autosomal meiotic drive system found worldwide in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. This gene complex induces the preferential and nearly exclusive transmission of the SD chromosome in SD/SD+ males. This selfish propagation occurs ...
Engineered Gene Drives for Pest Management
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrolG. Miglani, Biotechnology for Plant Disease Diagnosis and Management, 2020.
Genes in sexually reproducing organisms normally have, on average, a 50% chance of being inherited, but some genes have a higher chance of being inherited. These genes can increase in relative frequency in a population even if they reduce the odds that each organism will ...
Bioengineering horizon scan 2020
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive syntheticL. Kemp, L. Adam, C. R. Boehm, R. Breitling, R. Casagrande, M. Dando, A. Djikeng, N. G. Evans, R. Hammond, K. Hills, L. A. Holt, T. Kuiken, A. Markotić, P. Millett, J. A. Napier, C. Nelson, S. S. ÓhÉigeartaigh, A. Osbourn, M. J. Palmer, N. J. Patron, E. P, eLife, 9:e54489. 2020.
Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon ...
Simulation models from: Can CRISPER-mediated gene drive work in pest and beneficial haplodiploid species?
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, ModelingJ. Li and B. Tabashnik, Dryad, 2020.
Gene drives based on CRISPR/Cas9 have the potential to reduce the enormous harm inflicted by crop pests and insect vectors of human disease, as well as to bolster valued species. In contrast with extensive empirical and theoretical studies in diploid organisms, little is known ...
Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Invasive species, Sex distorterJ. L. Teem, L. Alphey, S. Descamps, M. P. Edgington, O. Edwards, N. Gemmell, T. Harvey-Samuel, R. L. Melnick, K. P. Oh, A. J. Piaggio, J. R. Saah, D. Schill, P. Thomas, T. Smith and A. Roberts, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8:452. 2020.
Invasive species are increasingly affecting agriculture, food, fisheries, and forestry resources throughout the world. As a result of global trade, invasive species are often introduced into new environments where they become established and cause harm to human health, ...
RNAi: Applications in Vertebrate Pest Management
Tags: Gene editing, Genetic biocontrol, Genetic engineeringK. E. Horak, Trends in Biotechnology, 38:1200-1202. 2020.
the development of novel control technologies must be focused on species specificity and low environmental impact. Sequence-specific gene silencing via RNAi holds promise for effective management of pest wildlife.
The Y Chromosome as a Battleground for Intragenomic Conflict
Tags: Evolution, Genetic engineering, Transmission distortion, Y-chromosomeD. Bachtrog, Trends in Genetics, 2020.
Recurrent sex chromosome drive can have profound ecological, evolutionary, and cellular impacts and account for unique features of sex chromosomes.
Gene Drives: Pursuing opportunities, minimizing risk
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safety, Risk assessmentK. L. Warmbrod, A. Kobokovich, R. West, G. Ray, M. Trotochaud and M. Montague, Center for Health Security, 2020.
This study analyzed the current state of gene drive technologies, the ways in which they might be deployed in the field, and the state of regulatory policy governing their development.
Le forçage génétique (gène drive) et ses applications
Tags: Agriculture, Biodiversity/Conservation, CRISPR, Gene drive syntheticV. Courtier-Orgogozo, Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France, 172:94-98. 2020.
Gene drive is a new genetic engineering technology that has been developed over the past five years and that allows genetic modifications to spread rapidly in natural populations. Potential applications are numerous, for public health issues, agriculture and conservation biology. ...
Recessive Z-linked lethals and the retention of haplotype diversity in a captive butterfly population
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Evolution, Fruit fly, Genetics, Moths, Transmission distortionI. J. Saccheri, S. Whiteford, C. J. Yung and A. E. van't Hof, Heredity, 2020.
Sex chromosomes are predicted to harbour elevated levels of sexually antagonistic variation due to asymmetries in the heritability of recessive traits in the homogametic versus heterogametic sex.
Modeling confinement and reversibility of threshold-dependent gene drive systems in spatially-explicit Aedes aegypti populations
Tags: Containment, Gene drive synthetic, Mosquitoes, UnderdominanceH. M. Sánchez C, J. B. Bennett, S. L. Wu, G. Rašić, O. S. Akbari and J. M. Marshall, BMC Biology, 18:50. 2020.
Here, we model hypothetical releases of two recently engineered threshold-dependent gene drive systems—reciprocal chromosomal translocations and a form of toxin-antidote-based underdominance known as UDMEL—to explore their ability to be confined and remediated.
A male-biased sex-distorter gene drive for the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae
Tags: Anopheles, CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Replicator/site directed nucleaseA. Simoni, A. M. Hammond, A. K. Beaghton, R. Galizi, C. Taxiarchi, K. Kyrou, D. Meacci, M. Gribble, G. Morselli, A. Burt, T. Nolan and A. Crisanti, Nature Biotechnology, 2020.
We report a male-biased sex-distorter gene drive (SDGD) in the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.
Converting endogenous genes of the malaria mosquito into simple non-autonomous gene drives for population replacement
Tags: Anopheles, CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Malaria, Population modification/replacement, Replicator/site directed nucleaseA. Hoermann, S. Tapanelli, P. Capriotti, E. K. G. Masters, T. Habtewold, G. K. Christophides and N. Windbichler, bioRxiv, 2020.
Here we explore how minimal genetic modifications of endogenous mosquito genes can convert them directly into non-autonomous gene drives without disrupting their expression.
Gene drive dynamics in natural populations: The importance of density-dependence, space and sex
Tags: Gene drive syntheticS. Dhole, A. L. Lloyd and F. Gould, arXiv, arXiv:2005.01838. 2020.
Here we review how different forms of density-dependence, spatial heterogeneity and mating behaviors can impact the spread of self-sustaining gene drives. We highlight specific aspects of gene drive dynamics and the target populations that need further research.
Beyond limits – the pitfalls of global gene drives for environmental risk assessment in the European Union
Tags: Europe, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified organisms, Regulation, Risk and safety, Risk assessmentM. Dolezel, C. Lüthi and H. Gaugitsch, BioRisk, 15:1-29. 2020.
We evaluate the novel features of GDOs and outline the resulting challenges for the environmental risk assessment.
The development of complex and controversial innovations. Genetically modified mosquitoes for malaria eradication
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Malaria, Policy, Risk and safety, Target malariaV. Cisnetto and J. Barlow, Research Policy, 49:103917. 2020.
e use a longitudinal process approach and qualitative system dynamics modelling to study the development of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes for malaria eradication in an African country.

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