Small-Molecule Control of Super-Mendelian Inheritance in Gene Drives.
Authors | |
Abstract | Synthetic CRISPR-based gene-drive systems have tremendous potential in public health and agriculture, such as for fighting vector-borne diseases or suppressing crop pest populations. These elements can rapidly spread in a population by breaching the inheritance limit of 50% dictated by Mendel's law of gene segregation, making them a promising tool for population engineering. However, current technologies lack control over their propagation capacity, and there are important concerns about potential unchecked spreading. Here, we describe a gene-drive system in Drosophila that generates an analog inheritance output that can be tightly and conditionally controlled to between 50% and 100%. This technology uses a modified SpCas9 that responds to a synthetic, orally available small molecule, fine-tuning the inheritance probability. This system opens a new avenue to feasibility studies for spatial and temporal control of gene drives using small molecules. |
Year of Publication | 2020
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Journal | Cell Rep
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Volume | 31
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Issue | 13
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Pages | 107841
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Date Published | 2020 Jun 30
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ISSN | 2211-1247
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DOI | 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107841
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PubMed ID | 32610142
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Links | |
Grant list | DP5 OD023098 / OD / NIH HHS / United States
R01 GM132825 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
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