Scholarly Literature
This is an aggregation of scholarly literature from peer-reviewed journals, bioRxiv , medRxiv and arXiv preprint servers focused on natural and engineered selfish genetic elements and genetic biocontrol. New citations are added as they appear. This content is intended for anyone interested in the scholarly literature on gene drive and genetic biocontrol.
Developing Wolbachia-based disease interventions for an extreme environment
Tags: Aedes, Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Genetic biocontrol, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaP. A. Ross, S. Elfekih, S. Collier, M. J. Klein, S. S. Lee, M. Dunn, S. Jackson, Y. Zhang, J. K. Axford, X. Gu, M. S. Nasar, P. N. Paradkar, E. A. Taoufik, F. M. Jiggins, A. M. Almalik, M. B. Al-Fageeh and A. A. Hoffmann, bioRxiv, 2022.07.26.501527. 2022.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying self-spreading, virus-blocking Wolbachia bacteria are being deployed to suppress dengue transmission. However, there are challenges in applying this technology in extreme environments. We introduced two Wolbachia strains into Ae. aegypti from ...
Population replacement gene drive characteristics for malaria elimination in a range of seasonal transmission settings: a modelling study
Tags: Africa, Anopheles, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Modeling, Population modification/replacementS. Leung, N. Windbichler, E. A. Wenger, C. A. Bever and P. Selvaraj, Malaria Journal, 21:226. 2022.
BACKGROUND: Gene drives are a genetic engineering method where a suite of genes is inherited at higher than Mendelian rates and has been proposed as a promising new vector control strategy to reinvigorate the fight against malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Using an ...
Non-Mendelian transmission of accessory chromosomes in fungi
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortion, Yeast and FungiJ. Komluski, E. H. Stukenbrock and M. Habig, Chromosome Research, 2022.
Non-Mendelian transmission has been reported for various genetic elements, ranging from small transposons to entire chromosomes. One prime example of such a transmission pattern are B chromosomes in plants and animals. Accessory chromosomes in fungi are similar to B chromosomes ...
Lack of robust evidence for a Wolbachia infection in Anopheles gambiae from Burkina Faso
Tags: Anopheles, Genetic biocontrol, Population modification/replacement, Population suppression, WolbachiaS. P. Sawadogo, D. A. Kabore, E. B. Tibiri, A. Hughes, O. Gnankine, S. Quek, A. Diabaté, H. Ranson, G. L. Hughes and R. K. Dabiré, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 2022.
The endosymbiont Wolbachia can have major effects on the reproductive fitness, and vectorial capacity of host insects and may provide new avenues to control mosquito-borne pathogens. Anopheles gambiae s.l is the major vector of malaria in Africa but the use of Wolbachia in this ...
Operationalizing stakeholder engagement for gene drive research in malaria elimination in Africa-translating guidance into practice
Tags: Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Stakeholder engagement, Vector controlL. Pare Toe, B. Dicko, R. Linga, N. Barry, M. Drabo, N. Sykes and D. Thizy, Malaria Journal, 21:225. 2022.
Gene drive mosquitoes are increasingly considered a potential transformational tool for vector control of malaria mosquitoes. As part of efforts to promote responsible research in this field, a number of guidance documents have been published by the World Health Organization, ...
Attempts to use breeding approaches in Aedes aegypti to create lines with distinct and stable relative Wolbachia densities
Tags: Aedes, Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Genetics, Population modification/replacement, WolbachiaA. J. Mejia, L. Jimenez, H. L. C. Dutra, R. Perera and E. A. McGraw, Heredity, 2022.
Wolbachia is an insect endosymbiont being used for biological control in the mosquito Aedes aegypti because it causes cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and limits viral replication of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. While the genetic mechanism of pathogen blocking (PB) is ...
Comprehensive characterization of a transgene insertion in a highly repetitive, centromeric region of Anopheles mosquitoes
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoesM. Vitale, C. Leo, T. Courty, N. Kranjc, J. B. Connolly, G. Morselli, C. Bamikole, R. E. Haghighat-Khah, F. Bernardini and S. Fuchs, Pathogens and Global Health, 2022.
The availability of the genomic sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae has in recent years sparked the development of transgenic technologies with the potential to be used as novel vector control tools. These technologies rely on genome editing that confer traits able ...
Development of CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene-Drive Construct Targeting the Phenotypic Gene in Plutella xylostella
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive, Gene drive synthetic, Moths, Replicator/site directed nucleaseM. Asad, D. Liu, J. Li, J. Chen and G. Yang, Frontiers in Physiology, 13:938621. 2022.
The gene-drive system can ensure that desirable traits are transmitted to the progeny more than the normal Mendelian segregation. The clustered regularly interspersed palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) mediated gene-drive system has been demonstrated ...
What can we learn from selfish loci that break Mendel’s law?
Tags: Fruit fly, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionS. E. Zanders, PLOS Biology, 20:e3001700. 2022.
Mendel’s law of segregation provides a critical foundation for genetic inquiry It is not, however, without exceptions Historically, 2 such exceptions (sex chromosome linkage and chromosome missegregation in meiosis) were used by Drosophila geneticists to help demonstrate ...
Isolation of rfk-2 (UV) , a mutation that blocks spore killing by Neurospora Spore killer-3
Tags: Selfish genetic elements, Yeast and FungiA. Velazquez, E. Webber, D. O'Neil, T. Hammond and N. Rhoades, MicroPublication Biology, 2022.
Neurospora Spore killer-3 ( Sk-3 ) is a selfish genetic element that kills spores to achieve gene drive. Here, to help identify Sk-3’s killer, we performed a genetic screen for required for killing (rfk) mutations (see methods). The genetic screen uses Sk‑3 rskΔ × SkS ...
A Toxin-Antidote Selfish Element Increases Fitness of its Host
Tags: Selfish genetic elements, Toxin-antidoteL. Long, W. Xu, A. B. Paaby and P. T. McGrath, bioRxiv, 2022.07.15.500229. 2022.
Selfish genetic elements can promote their transmission at the expense of individual survival, creating conflict between the element and the rest of the genome. Recently, a large number of toxin-antidote (TA) post-segregation distorters have been identified in non-obligate ...
Adaptive meiotic drive in selfing populations with heterozygote advantage
Tags: Modeling, Transmission distortionE. Brud, Theoretical Population Biology, 146:61-70. 2022.
The egalitarian allotment of gametes to each allele at a locus (Mendel's law of segregation) is a near-universal phenomenon characterizing inheritance in sexual populations. As exceptions to Mendel's law are known to occur, one can investigate why non-Mendelian segregation is not ...
Meiotic drive in house mice: mechanisms, consequences, and insights for human biology
Tags: Rodents, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionU. P. Arora and B. L. Dumont, Chromosome Research, 2022.
Meiotic drive occurs when one allele at a heterozygous site cheats its way into a disproportionate share of functional gametes, violating Mendel's law of equal segregation. This genetic conflict typically imposes a fitness cost to individuals, often by disrupting the process of ...
Gene Drive in Species Complexes: Defining Target Organisms
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Risk assessmentJ. B. Connolly, J. Romeis, Y. Devos, D. C. M. Glandorf, G. Turner and M. B. Coulibaly, Trends in Biotechnology, 2022.
Engineered gene drives, which bias their own inheritance to increase in frequency in target populations, are being developed to control mosquito malaria vectors. Such mosquitoes can belong to complexes of both vector and non-vector species that can produce fertile interspecific ...
A population modification gene drive targeting both Saglin and Lipophorin disables Plasmodium transmission in Anopheles mosquitoes
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Population modification/replacement, Replicator/site directed nucleaseE. I. Green, E. Jaouen, D. Klug, R. P. Olmo, A. Gautier, S. A. Blandin and E. Marois, bioRxiv, 2022.07.08.499187. 2022.
Lipophorin is an essential, highly expressed lipid transporter protein that is secreted and circulates in insect hemolymph. We hijacked the Anopheles gambiae Lipophorin gene to make it co-express a single-chain version of antibody 2A10, which binds sporozoites of the malaria ...
Scalability of genetic biocontrols for eradicating invasive alien mammals
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive species, Modeling, Other mammalsA. Birand, P. Cassey, J. V. Ross, P. Q. Thomas and T. A. A. Prowse, NeoBiota, 74:93-103. 2022.
CRISPR-based gene drives offer novel solutions for controlling invasive alien species, which could ultimately extend eradication efforts to continental scales. Gene drives for suppressing invasive alien vertebrates are now under development. Using a landscape-scale ...
Larval mosquito management and risk to aquatic ecosystems: A comparative approach including current tactics and gene-drive Anopheles techniques
Tags: Anopheles, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Mosquitoes, Policy, Regulation, Risk assessmentR. K. D. Peterson and M. G. Rolston, Transgenic Research, 2022.
Genetic engineering of mosquitoes represents a promising tactic for reducing human suffering from malaria. Gene-drive techniques being developed that suppress or modify populations of Anopheles gambiae have the potential to be used with, or even possibly obviate, microbial and ...
Selfish centromeres and the wastefulness of human reproduction
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Other mammalsL. D. Hurst, PLOS Biology, 20:e3001671. 2022.
Many human embryos die in utero owing to an excess or deficit of chromosomes, a phenomenon known as aneuploidy; this is largely a consequence of nondisjunction during maternal meiosis I. Asymmetries of this division render it vulnerable to selfish centromeres that promote their ...
Slow and steady wins the race: spatial and stochastic processes and the failure of suppression gene drives
Tags: Modeling, Population suppression, X chromosomeJ. F. Paril and B. L. Phillips, Molecular Ecology, 2022.
Gene drives that skew sex ratios offer a new management tool to suppress or eradicate pest populations. Early models and empirical work suggest that these suppression drives can completely eradicate well-mixed populations, but models that incorporate stochasticity and space ...
Rye B chromosomes differently influence the expression of A chromosome-encoded genes depending on the host species
Tags: Agriculture, Chromosomal driveA. Boudichevskaia, A. Fiebig, K. Kumke, A. Himmelbach and A. Houben, Chromosome Research, 2022.
The B chromosome (B) is a dispensable component of the genome in many species. To evaluate the impact of Bs on the transcriptome of the standard A chromosomes (A), comparative RNA-seq analyses of rye and wheat anthers with and without additional rye Bs were conducted. In both ...
Partial masculinization of Aedes aegypti females by conditional expression of Nix
Tags: Aedes, Genetic biocontrol, Population suppression, Sex distorterB. B. Kojin, E. Jakes, J. K. Biedler, Z. Tu and Z. N. Adelman, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010598. 2022.
Here, we report on the conditional expression of Nixin transgenic A. aegypti under the control of the tetracycline-dependent (Tet-off) system, with the goal of establishing repressible sex distortion. A masculinization phenotype was observed in three of the seven transgenic lines ...
Mendel’s laws of heredity on his 200th birthday: What have we learned by considering exceptions?
Tags: History, Transmission distortionJ. B. Wolf, A. C. Ferguson-Smith and A. Lorenz, Heredity, 129:1-3. 2022.
Violations of Mendel’s laws can generically be referred to as ‘non-Mendelian inheritance’. However, from that broad perspective, nearly all inheritance systems would show non-Mendelian inheritance (at least to some degree). To hold exactly, Mendel’s laws impose strict ...
CRISPR-Mediated Genome Engineering in Aedes aegypti
Tags: Aedes, CRISPR, Gene editing, Genetically modified mosquitoesR. Sun, M. Li, C. J. McMeniman and O. S. Akbari, piRNA: Methods and Protocols, 2022.
CRISPR-mediated genome engineering technologies have been adapted to a wide variety of organisms with high efficiency and specificity. The yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegyptiAedes aegypti, is one such organism. It is also responsible for transmitting a wide variety of deadly ...
Public perspectives towards using gene drive for invasive species management in Australia
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Genetic biocontrol, Oceania, Other mammals, Policy, Population suppression, Stakeholder engagementA. Mankad, E. V. Hobman and L. Carter, CSIRO, 2022.
Many pest animal species live and reproduce in high numbers across Australia. This includes animal species, such as cane toads, feral cats, foxes, rodents, wild pigs, wild rabbits. These species significantly damage Australia’s agricultural industries, natural landscapes, and ...
The suppressive potential of a gene drive in populations of invasive social wasps is currently limited
Tags: Aedes, Biodiversity/Conservation, Biological control, Gene drive synthetic, Gene editing, Genetic biocontrol, Invasive species, ModelingA. B. Meiborg, N. R. Faber, B. A. Taylor, B. A. Harpur and G. Gorjanc, bioRxiv, 2022.06.27.497711. 2022.
Social insects are very successful invasive species, and the continued increase of global trade and transportation has exacerbated this problem. The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax (henceforth Asian hornet), is drastically expanding its range in Western Europe. ...
cifB-transcript levels largely explain cytoplasmic incompatibility variation across divergent Wolbachia
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, WolbachiaJ. D. Shropshire, E. Hamant, W. R. Conner and B. S. Cooper, PNAS Nexus, 2022.
Divergent hosts often associate with intracellular microbes that influence their fitness. Maternally transmitted Wolbachia bacteria are the most common of these endosymbionts due largely to cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) that kills uninfected embryos fertilized by ...
Manipulating Insect Sex Determination Pathways for Genetic Pest Management: Opportunities and Challenges
Tags: Gene drive, Genetic biocontrol, Oxitec, Population suppression, Sterile insect technique (SIT)A. Siddall, T. Harvey-Samuel, T. Chapman and P. T. Leftwich, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 10. 2022.
Sex determination pathways in insects are generally characterised by an upstream primary signal, which is highly variable across species, and that regulates the splicing of a suite of downstream but highly-conserved genes (transformer, doublesex and fruitless). In turn, these ...
Public deliberation and the regulation of gene drive in the USA
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Policy, Regulation, Risk and safety, Stakeholder engagementW. F. West, L. W. Buchman and R. F. Medina, Science and Public Policy, scac032. 2022.
Gene drive is a new form of biotechnology designed to bias the inheritance of selected traits in animal or plant species that reproduce sexually and have relatively short reproductive cycles. Unlike traditional breeding techniques and other forms of biotechnology, gene drive is ...
Intron-derived small RNAs for silencing viral RNAs in mosquito cells
Tags: Arbovirus, Dengue, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, MosquitoesP. Y. L. Tng, L. Z. Carabajal Paladino, M. A. E. Anderson, Z. N. Adelman, R. Fragkoudis, R. Noad and L. Alphey, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16:e0010548. 2022.
Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus are the main vectors of mosquito-borne viruses of medical and veterinary significance. Many of these viruses have RNA genomes. Exogenously provided, e.g. transgene encoded, small RNAs could be used to inhibit virus replication, breaking the ...
The AalNix3&4 isoform is required and sufficient to convert Aedes albopictus females into males
Tags: Aedes, Genetic biocontrol, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Population suppression, Sterile insect technique (SIT)Y. Zhao, B. Jin, P. Liu, X. Xiao, L. Cai, Z. Xie, L. Kong, T. Liu, W. Yang, Y. Wu, J. Gu, Z. Tu, A. A. James and X.-G. Chen, PLOS Genetics, 18:e1010280. 2022.
Author summary Nix serves as a conserved male-determining factor in the two most important mosquito arboviral vectors, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. AaeNix alone can convert Ae. aegypti females into fertile but flightless males. AalNix has four alternative splice isoforms ...
Centromere drive: model systems and experimental progress
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Transmission distortionD. Dudka and M. A. Lampson, Chromosome Research, 2022.
Centromeres connect chromosomes and spindle microtubules to ensure faithful chromosome segregation. Paradoxically, despite this conserved function, centromeric DNA evolves rapidly and centromeric proteins show signatures of positive selection. The centromere drive hypothesis ...
Sensitivity of wMel and wAlbB Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti Puducherry (Indian) strains to heat stress during larval development
Tags: Aedes, Asia, Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Incompatible insect technique, WolbachiaK. Gunasekaran, C. Sadanandane, D. Panneer, A. Kumar, M. Rahi, S. Dinesh, B. Vijayakumar, M. Krishnaraja, S. K. Subbarao and P. Jambulingam, Parasites and Vectors, 15:221. 2022.
BACKGROUND: ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry, India, developed two colonies of Aedes aegypti infected with wMel and wAlbB Wolbacia strains called Ae. aegypti (Pud) lines for dengue control. The sensitivity of wMel and wAlbB strains in Ae. aegypti (Pud) lines to ...
Sexual transmission of Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV) leads to disseminated infection in mated females
Tags: Anopheles, Genetic biocontrol, Mosquitoes, Other SymbiontsK. L. Werling, R. M. Johnson, H. C. Metz and J. L. Rasgon, Parasites and Vectors, 15:219. 2022.
Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV) is an insect-specific, single-stranded DNA virus that infects An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.), the major mosquito species responsible for transmitting malaria parasites throughout sub-Saharan Africa. AgDNV is a benign virus that is very ...
Hoisted with his own petard: how sex-ratio meiotic drive in <em>Drosophila affinis</em> creates resistance alleles that limit its spread
Tags: Fruit fly, Sex distorter, Transmission distortion, X chromosomeW.-J. Ma, E. M. Knoles, K. B. Patch, M. M. Shoaib and R. L. Unckless, bioRxiv, 2022.02.14.480432. 2022.
Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that tinker with gametogenesis to bias their own transmission into the next generation of offspring. Such tinkering can have significant consequences on gametogenesis and end up hampering the spread of the driver. In Drosophila ...
DriverSEAT: A spatially-explicit stochastic modelling framework for the evaluation of gene drives in novel target species
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive synthetic, ModelingM. Legros and L. G. Barrett, bioRxiv, 2022.06.13.496025. 2022.
Gene drives represent a potentially ground breaking technology for the control of undesirable species or the introduction of desirable traits in wild population, and there is strong interest in applying these technologies to a wide range of species across many domains including ...
Genetic Approaches for Controlling CRISPR-based Autonomous Homing Gene Drives
Tags: Replicator/site directed nucleaseP. R. Chennuri, Z. N. Adelman and K. M. Myles, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 10:897231. 2022.
CRISPR-based autonomous homing gene drives are a potentially transformative technology with the power to reduce the prevalence of, or even eliminate, vector-borne diseases, agricultural pests, and invasive species. However, there are a number of regulatory, ethical, ...
Natural and Engineered Sex Ratio Distortion in Insects
Tags: Agriculture, Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Population modification/replacement, Population suppression, Sex distorter, Transmission distortion, WolbachiaA. Compton and Z. Tu, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10. 2022.
Insects have evolved highly diverse genetic sex-determination mechanisms and a relatively balanced male to female sex ratio is generally expected. However, selection may shift the optimal sex ratio while meiotic drive and endosymbiont manipulation can result in sex ratio ...
Meiotic behavior, transmission and active genes of B chromosomes in the cichlid Astatotilapia latifasciata: new clues about nature, evolution and maintenance of accessory elements
Tags: Chromosomal drive, Fish, Transmission distortionA. L. Cardoso, N. B. Venturelli, I. da Cruz, F. M. de Sá Patroni, D. de Moraes, R. A. de Oliveira, R. Benavente and C. Martins, Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 2022.
Supernumerary B chromosomes (Bs) are dispensable genetic elements widespread in eukaryotes and are poorly understood mainly in relation to mechanisms of maintenance and transmission. The cichlid Astatotilapia latifasciata can harbor Bs in a range of 0 (named B -) and 1-2 (named ...
Generation of Gene Drive Mice for Invasive Pest Population Suppression
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, Gene drive synthetic, Invasive species, Rodents, Sex distorter, Transmission distortionM. D. Bunting, C. Pfitzner, L. Gierus, M. White, S. Piltz and P. Q. Thomas, Applications of Genome Modulation and Editing, 2022.
Gene drives are genetic elements that are transmitted to greater than 50% of offspring and have potential for population modification or suppression. While gene drives are known to occur naturally, the recent emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technology has enabled ...
Selective targeting of biting females to control mosquito-borne infectious diseases
Tags: Gene drive synthetic, Population suppression, Sterile insect technique (SIT), Transmission distortion, X chromosomeB. B. Kojin, A. Compton, Z. N. Adelman and Z. Tu, Trends in Parasitology, 2022.
Mosquitoes are vectors for a number of infectious diseases. Only females feed on blood to provision for their embryos and, in doing so, transmit pathogens to the associated vertebrate hosts. Therefore, sex is an important phenotype in the context of genetic control programs, both ...
Male-killing-associated bacteriophage WO identified from comparisons of Wolbachia endosymbionts of Homona magnanima
Tags: Cytoplasmic incompatibility, Fruit fly, Other Symbionts, Sex distorter, WolbachiaH. Arai, H. Anbutsu, Y. Nishikawa, M. Kogawa, K. Ishii, M. Hosokawa, S.-R. Lin, M. Ueda, M. Nakai, Y. Kunimi, T. Harumoto, D. Kageyama, H. Takeyama and M. N. Inoue, bioRxiv, 2022.
The origin and mechanism of male-killing, an advantageous strategy employed by maternally transmitted symbionts such as Wolbachia, remain unclear. We compared genomes of four Wolbachia strains derived from Homona magnanima, a male-killing strain wHm-t (1.5 Mb), and three ...
Iterative evolution of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants
Tags: Genomics, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionT. Kay, Q. Helleu and L. Keller, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 377:20210196. 2022.
Species commonly exhibit alternative morphs, with individual fate being determined during development by either genetic factors, environmental cues or a combination thereof. Ants offer an interesting case study because many species are polymorphic in their social structure. Some ...
Unbalanced selection: the challenge of maintaining a social polymorphism when a supergene is selfish
Tags: Evolution, Gene drive synthetic, Genomics, Modeling, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionA. G. Tafreshi, S. P. Otto and M. Chapuisat, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 377:20210197. 2022.
Supergenes often have multiple phenotypic effects, including unexpected detrimental ones, because recombination suppression maintains associations among co-adapted alleles but also allows the accumulation of recessive deleterious mutations and selfish genetic elements. Yet, ...
Supergene potential of a selfish centromere
Tags: Agriculture, Chromosomal drive, Genomics, Selfish genetic elements, Transmission distortionF. Finseth, K. Brown, A. Demaree and L. Fishman, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 377:20210208. 2022.
Selfishly evolving centromeres bias their transmission by exploiting the asymmetry of female meiosis and preferentially segregating to the egg. Such female meiotic drive systems have the potential to be supergenes, with multiple linked loci contributing to drive costs or ...
Mendel’s First Law: partisan interests and the parliament of genes
Tags: Evolution, Population suppression, Resistance, Transmission distortionC. Veller, Heredity, 2022.
Mendel’s First Law requires explanation because of the possibility of ‘meiotic drivers’, genes that distort fair segregation for selfish gain. The suppression of drive, and the restoration of fair segregation, is often attributed to genes at loci unlinked to the drive ...
Current Status of Mosquito Handling, Transporting and Releasing in Frame of the Sterile Insect Technique
Tags: Aedes, Mosquitoes, Sterile insect technique (SIT)J. Guo, X. Zheng, D. Zhang and Y. Wu, Insects, 13. 2022.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) and its related technologies are considered to be a powerful weapon for fighting against mosquitoes. As an important part of the area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programs, SIT can help reduce the use of chemical pesticides for ...
Active genetics comes alive
Tags: CRISPR, Gene drive synthetic, Malaria, Selfish genetic elementsV. M. Gantz and E. Bier, BioEssays, 2022.
Abstract Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based ?active genetic? elements developed in 2015 bypassed the fundamental rules of traditional genetics. Inherited in a super-Mendelian fashion, such selfish genetic entities offered a variety of ...
Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to Fight Malaria in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and Uganda: What Legal Response?
Tags: Africa, Gene drive synthetic, Genetically modified mosquitoes, Genetically modified organisms, Governance, Policy, RegulationO. J. L. Tung, Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 25:1-42. 2022.
Advanced applied research on genetically modified (hereafter GM) insects is being undertaken to control insect vectors of human diseases such as mosquitoes. GM insect technologies are being developed in countries where there is a legal ...
Investigating CRISPR/Cas9 gene drive for production of disease-preventing prion gene alleles
Tags: Biodiversity/Conservation, CRISPR, Ecology, Gene drive synthetic, Other mammalsA. R. Castle, S. Wohlgemuth, L. Arce and D. Westaway, PLoS One, 17:e0269342. 2022.
Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that includes chronic wasting disease, which affects cervids and is highly transmissible. Given that chronic wasting disease prevalence exceeds 30% in some endemic areas of North America, and that eventual ...
Retraction Note: Selective inheritance of target genes from only one parent of sexually reproduced F1 progeny in Arabidopsis
Tags: Agriculture, Gene drive syntheticT. Zhang, M. Mudgett, R. Rambabu, B. Abramson, X. Dai, T. P. Michael and Y. Zhao, Nature Communications, 13:3270. 2022.
Retraction to: Nature Communications https://doi-org.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/10.1038/s41467-021-24195-5, published online 22 June 2021.We retract the article cited above because genotyping results from recent experiments are not consistent with the conclusions presented in ...
