Keywords: reversal drive

UC San Diego Biology Lab Receives $1.4M Grant to Fight Malaria Spread

E. Dameron,  UC San Diego News Center,  2022.
Scientists at the University of California San Diego are hard at work on new genetic technologies intended for use in curbing mosquito populations, fighting the spread of malaria and mitigating the hazards associated with the deployment of gene-editing systems in the wild. That ...
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Autocatalytic-protection for an unknown locus CRISPR-Cas countermeasure for undesired mutagenic chain reactions

E. Schonfeld, E. Schonfeld and D. Schonfeld,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  528:110831. 2021.
The mutagenic chain reaction (MCR) is a genetic tool to use a CRISPR–Cas construct to introduce a homing endonuclease, allowing gene drive to influence whole populations in a minimal number of generations (Esvelt et al., 2014, Gantz and Bier, 2015, Gantz and Bier, 2016). The ...
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Edit, undo: Temporary gene editing could help solve the mosquito problem

L. Dormehl,  digitaltrends,  2020.
But if SyFy original movies have taught us anything, it’s that genetically tweaking organisms and then releasing them can… well, not go quite according to plan.With that in mind, a new Texas A&M AgriLife Research project seeks to test out genetic modifications of mosquitos ...
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Making gene drive biodegradable

J. Zapletal, N. Najmitabrizi, M. Erraguntla, M. A. Lawley, K. M. Myles and Z. N. Adelman,  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,  376:20190804. 2020.
Here, we consider the inclusion of self-elimination mechanisms into the design of homing-based gene drive transgenes. This approach not only caused the excision of the gene drive transgene, but also generates a transgene-free allele resistant to further action by the gene drive. ...
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A Gene Drive Could Wipe Out Mosquitoes. But What If We Want To Turn It Off?

A. Winkler,  freethink,  2020.
Gene drives are powerful tools: they allow scientists to hack how animals pass down genes to their offspring. They could allow us to wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes, preserve endangered species, or fight off crop-eating pests. But once it's out in the wild, a gene drive ...
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Gene Drive Control Worry Eased by Genetic Neutralizing Elements

Staff,  Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News,  2020.
Bier and his colleagues have developed two new active genetic systems that address such risks by halting or eliminating gene drives in the wild, offering two new solutions based on elements developed in the common fruit fly. T
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Active Genetic Neutralizing Elements for Halting or Deleting Gene Drives

X.-R. S. Xu, E. A. Bulger, V. M. Gantz, C. Klanseck, S. R. Heimler, A. Auradkar, J. B. Bennett, L. A. Miller, S. Leahy, S. S. Juste, A. Buchman, O. S. Akbari, J. M. Marshall and E. Bier,  Molecular Cell,  2020.
Here we describe two self-copying (or active) guide RNA-only genetic elements, called e-CHACRs and ERACRs. These elements use Cas9 produced in trans by a gene drive either to inactivate the cas9 transgene (e-CHACRs) or to delete and replace the gene drive (ERACRs).
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