What does it mean when someone says a gene drive will ‘spread ’?

Category: Gene Drive Description

The preferential inheritance of a gene (engineered or natural) that characterizes gene drive will cause an increase in the frequency or prevalence of the gene exhibiting gene drive within the population of organisms into which it has been introduced. Depending on the characteristics of the gene drive, virtually all of the members of an interbreeding population of the target species may eventually contain the modification. The spreading of the gene drive from its initial source individual(s) of introduction through the broader population is not unlike the ripple created when a drop of water hits a calm puddle.

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