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.
Disclaimer>

Transgenic Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Transfer Genes into a Natural Population

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
B. R. Evans, P. Kotsakiozi, A. L. Costa-da-Silva, R. S. Ioshino, L. Garziera, M. C. Pedrosa, A. Malavasi, J. F. Virginio, M. L. Capurro and J. R. Powell,  Scientific Reports,  9:6. 2019.
We genotyped the release strain and the target Jacobina population before releases began for >21,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Genetic sampling from the target population six, 12, and 27-30 months after releases commenced provides clear evidence that portions of the ...

Twenty-five Years of Research Experience with the Sterile Insect Technique and Area-Wide Management of Codling Moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), in Canada

Tags: , ,
H. M. A. Thistlewood and G. J. R. Judd,  Insects,  10:292. 2019.
The advent of novel genetic methods has led to renewed interest in the sterile insect technique (SIT) for management of insect pests, owing to applications in mass rearing and in the production of sterile offspring without use of irradiation. An area-wide management programme for ...

A 2017 horizon scan of emerging issues for global conservation and biological diversity

Tags: , , , , ,
Sutherland, WJB, P.; Broad, S.; Clout, M.; Connor, B.; Cote, I. M.; Dicks, L. V.; Doran, H.; Entwistle, A. C.; Fleishman, E.; Fox, M.; Gaston, K. J.; Gibbons, D. W.; Jiang, Z.; Keim, B.; Lickorish, F. A.; Markillie, P.; Monk, K. A.; Pearce-Higgins, J. W.; Peck, L. S.; Pretty, J.; Spalding, M. D.; Tonneijck, F. H.; Wintle, B. C.; Ockendon, N.,  Trends in Ecology & Evolution,  32:31-40. 2019.
We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the ...

Herbicide resistant weeds: A call to integrate conventional agricultural practices, molecular biology knowledge and new technologies

Tags: , , , , ,
V. E. Perotti, A. S. Larran, V. E. Palmieri, A. K. Martinatto and H. R. Permingeat,  Plant Science,  290:110255. 2019.
Herbicide resistant (HR) weeds are of major concern in modern agriculture. This situation is exacerbated by the massive adoption of herbicide-based technologies along with the overuse of a few active ingredients to control weeds over vast areas year after year. Also, many other ...

A natural gene drive system influences bovine tuberculosis susceptibility in African buffalo: Possible implications for disease management

Tags: , , ,
P. van Hooft, W. M. Getz, B. J. Greyling and A. D. S. Bastos,  PLoS One,  14:e0221168. 2019.
Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is endemic to the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) and Kruger National Park, South Africa. In HiP, the disease has been actively managed since 1999 through a test-and-cull procedure targeting BTB-positive buffalo. Prior ...

Engineered action at a distance: Blood-meal-inducible paralysis in Aedes aegypti

Tags: , ,
R. E. Haghighat-Khah, T. Harvey-Samuel, S. Basu, O. StJohn, S. Scaife, S. Verkuijl, E. Lovett and L. Alphey,  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  13:e0007579. 2019.
Here we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer ‘non-cell autonomous’ effectors–that is where the effect (e.g. the action of a toxic protein) can act on cells distant from the tissues in which they are originally expressed. To achieve this we utilised the endogenous ...

Autonomy of Nations and Indigenous Peoples and the Environmental Release of Genetically Engineered Animals with Gene Drives

Tags: , , , ,
Z. Meghani,  Global Policy,  10:554-568. 2019.
This article contends that the environmental release of genetically engineered (GE) animals with heritable traits that are patented will present a challenge to the efforts of nations and indigenous peoples to engage in self-determination. The environmental release of such animals ...

Synthetic Biology: Research Needs for Assessing Environmental Impacts

Tags: , , , ,
C. M. Warner, S. R. Carter, R. F. Lance, F. H. Crocker, H. N. Meeks, B. L. Adams, M. L. Magnuson, T. Rycroft, K. Pokrzywinski and E. J. Perkins,  Synthetic Biology 2020: Frontiers in Risk Analysis and Governance,  2019.
Synthetic biology and its applications have the potential to greatly improve economic development, public health, environmental stewardship, technological advancement, and many other areas. In May 2017, sixty individuals gathered in Lexington, Massachusetts for a workshop ...

Transforming insect population control with precision guided sterile males with demonstration in flies

Tags:
Kandul, N. P., J. Liu, H. M. Sanchez C, S. L. Wu, J. M. Marshall and O. S. Akbari,  Nature Communications,  10:84. 2019.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environmentally safe and proven technology to suppress wild populations. To further advance its utility, a novel CRISPR-based technology termed precision guided SIT (pgSIT) is described. PgSIT mechanistically relies on a dominant genetic ...

Viral gene drive in herpesviruses

Tags: , , , , ,
Walter, M. and E. Verdin,  bioRxiv,  2019:717017. 2019.
Herpesviruses are ubiquitous pathogens in need of novel therapeutic solutions. Current engineered gene drive strategies rely on sexual reproduction, and are thought to be restricted to sexual organisms. Here, we report on the design of a novel gene drive system that allows the ...

Combinations of Spok genes create multiple meiotic drivers in Podospora

Tags: , , , ,
A. A. Vogan, S. L. Ament-Velásquez, A. Granger-Farbos, J. Svedberg, E. Bastiaans, A. J. M. Debets, V. Coustou, H. Yvanne, C. Clavé, S. J. Saupe and H. Johannesson,  eLife,  8:e46454. 2019.
Meiotic drive is the preferential transmission of a particular allele during sexual reproduction. The phenomenon is observed as spore killing in multiple fungi. In natural populations of Podospora anserina, seven spore killer types (Psks) have been identified through classical ...

A family of killers

Tags: , , , ,
M. De Carvalho and S. E. Zanders,  eLife,  8:e49211. 2019.
Spok genes are meiotic drivers that increase their own chances of transmission by killing gametes that do not inherit them.

Assessment of a split homing based gene drive for efficient knockout of multiple genes

Tags: , , , ,
Kandul, N. P., J. Liu, A. Buchman, V. M. Gantz, E. Bier and O. S. Akbari,  bioRxiv,  2019:706929. 2019.
Homing based gene drives (HGD) possess the potential to spread linked cargo genes into natural populations and are poised to revolutionize population control of animals. Given that host-encoded genes have been identified that are important for pathogen transmission, targeting ...

Incompatible and sterile insect techniques combined eliminate mosquitoes

Tags: , , ,
X. Zheng, D. Zhang, Y. Li, C. Yang, Y. Wu, X. Liang, Y. Liang, X. Pan, L. Hu, Q. Sun, X. Wang, Y. Wei, J. Zhu, W. Qian, Z. Yan, A. G. Parker, J. R. L. Gilles, K. Bourtzis, J. Bouyer, M. Tang, B. Zheng, J. Yu, J. Liu, J. Zhuang, Z. Hu, M. Zhang, J.-T. Gon,  572,  56-61. 2019.
Here we show that combining incompatible and sterile insect techniques (IIT–SIT) enables near elimination of field populations of the world’s most invasive mosquito species, Aedes albopictus. Millions of factory-reared adult males with an artificial triple-Wolbachia infection ...

The potential of genomics for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity

Tags: ,
M. F. Breed, P. A. Harrison, C. Blyth, M. Byrne, V. Gaget, N. J. C. Gellie, S. V. C. Groom, R. Hodgson, J. G. Mills, T. A. A. Prowse, D. A. Steane and J. J. Mohr,  Nature Reviews Genetics,  20:615-628. 2019.
Existing and emerging genomics tools offer the potential to improve the odds of achieving these targets. These tools include population genomics that can improve seed sourcing, meta-omics that can improve assessment and monitoring of restoration outcomes, and genome editing that ...

Sex-ratio meiotic drive shapes the evolution of the Y chromosome in Drosophila simulans

Tags: , ,
Q. Helleu, C. Courret, D. Ogereau, K. L. Burnham, N. Chaminade, M. Chakir, S. Aulard and C. Montchamp-Moreau,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  36:2668-2681. 2019.
The recent emergence and spread of X-linked segregation distorters-called "Paris" system-in the worldwide species Drosophila simulans has elicited the selection of drive-resistant Y chromosomes. Here, we investigate the evolutionary history of 386 Y chromosomes originating from ...

Interpopulation spread of a parasitic B chromosome is unlikely through males in the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans

Tags: , , ,
M. I. Manrique-Poyato, J. Cabrero, M. D. López-León, F. Perfectti, R. Gómez and J. P. M. Camacho,  Heredity,  124:197-206. 2019.
The near-neutral model of B chromosome evolution predicts that population invasion is quite fast. To test this prediction, in 1994, we introduced males of the grasshopper Eyprepocnemis plorans from a B-carrying population into a B-lacking population and monitored the evolution of ...

Synthetic Biology and the United Nations

Tags: , , , ,
H.-E. Lai, C. Canavan, L. Cameron, S. Moore, M. Danchenko, T. Kuiken, Z. Sekeyová and P. S. Freemont,  Trends in Biotechnology,  37:1146-1151. 2019.
Synthetic biology is a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary field of science and engineering that aims to redesign living systems through reprogramming genetic information. The field has catalysed global debate among policymakers and publics. Here we describe how synthetic biology ...

Split-gene drive system provides flexible application for safe laboratory investigation and potential field deployment

Tags: , ,
V. L. Del Amo, A. L. Bishop, H. M. Sánchez C, J. B. Bennett, X. Feng, J. M. Marshall, E. Bier and V. M. Gantz,  bioRxiv,  684597. 2019.
CRISPR-based gene drives spread through populations bypassing the dictates of Mendelian genetics, offering a population-engineering tool for tackling vector-borne diseases, managing crop pests, and helping island conservation efforts; unfortunately, current technologies raise ...

Sex Sorting for Pest Control: It’s Raining Men!

Tags: , ,
C. Lutrat, D. Giesbrecht, E. Marois, S. Whyard, T. Baldet and J. Bouyer,  Trends in Parasitology,  35:649-662. 2019.
In the pursuit of better pest- and vector-control strategies, attention returns to an old proven technology, the sterile insect technique (SIT) and related insect population-suppression methods. A major obstacle for any of these approaches that involves the release of sterile ...

« First ‹ Previous 1 67 75 76 77 78 79 87 118 Next › Last »