Keywords: Self sustaining

Modelling the effect of migration on the localisation and spread of a gene drive

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C. Benjamin James and F.-L. Alexandre Jules Hen,  bioRxiv,  2023.04.02.535303. 2023.
Gene drives have the potential to address pressing ecological issues. Through the super-Mendelian inheritance of a gene drive, a trait can be spread through a population even in spite of a fitness cost. This ability to spread is both its greatest quality and detractor. We may not ...

Genetic control of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes

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D. Ferreira-Martins, J. Champer, D. W. McCauley, Z. Zhang and M. F. Docker,  Journal of Great Lakes Research,  2021.
The invasive sea lamprey was a significant factor in the collapse of fish stocks in the Great Lakes, and it continues to threaten the multi-billion-dollar fishing industry. Thus, substantial resources are invested annually on sea lamprey control. Current control strategies have ...

Gene-Editing Approach To Control the Invasive Gray Squirrel

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M. Campbell,  Technology Networks,  2021.
Biodiversity refers to the extent of the variety of life that is found on planet Earth – and it is currently under threat. Changes in biodiversity have been flagged as "surpassing safe limits" for several years, and world leaders and scientists across the globe are consequently ...

Ecology: Gene drives may help control invasive grey squirrel in the UK

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A. Korn,  EurekaAlert,  2021.
Gene drives introduce genes into a population that have been changed to induce infertility in females, allowing for the control of population size. However, they face technical challenges, such as controlling the spread of altered genes as gene drive individuals mate with wild ...

Genetically modified squirrels could curb growing population of greys

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S. Knapton,  Telegraph,  2021.
Mutant grey squirrels, genetically modified to spread infertility genes, could be released into the wild to tackle the burgeoning population,

Expert reaction to a paper suggesting that gene drives could be used to help control grey squirrel numbers in the UK

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Anonymous,  Science Media Centre,  2021.
This study assesses the prospects for using a gene drive to control invasive grey squirrels in the UK. This is a modelling study exploring the potential for such an approach – no such gene drives currently exist and developing them for grey squirrels would be quite a long-term ...

CRISPR gene drives may come to a squirrel near you.

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Anonymous,  NewsBeezer,  2021.
Today’s gene drive technologies could be blended to provide control of the invasive gray squirrel population in the UK – with minimal risk to other populations, according to a new modeling published in the journal Scientific reports. Gene driving introduces altered genes ...

Novel combination of CRISPR-based gene drives eliminates resistance and localises spread

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N. R. Faber, G. R. McFarlane, R. C. Gaynor, I. Pocrnic, C. B. A. Whitelaw and G. Gorjanc,  bioRxiv,  2020.
We present HD-ClvR, a novel combination of CRISPR-based gene drives that eliminates resistance and localises spread. As a case study, we model HD-ClvR in the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), which is an invasive pest in the UK and responsible for both biodiversity and ...