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How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors

Driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) spread through a population by a non-Mendelian mechanism. In a heterozygote, the protein encoded by a DEG causes a double-strand break in the homologous chromosome opposite to where its gene is inserted and when the break is repaired using the homologue as a templat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Godfray, H. Charles J., North, Ace, Burt, Austin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5594614/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28893259
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0420-4
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author Godfray, H. Charles J.
North, Ace
Burt, Austin
author_facet Godfray, H. Charles J.
North, Ace
Burt, Austin
author_sort Godfray, H. Charles J.
collection PubMed
description Driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) spread through a population by a non-Mendelian mechanism. In a heterozygote, the protein encoded by a DEG causes a double-strand break in the homologous chromosome opposite to where its gene is inserted and when the break is repaired using the homologue as a template the DEG heterozygote is converted to a homozygote. Some DEGs occur naturally while several classes of endonucleases can be engineered to spread in this way, with CRISPR-Cas9 based systems being particularly flexible. There is great interest in using driving endonuclease genes to impose a genetic load on insects that vector diseases or are economic pests to reduce their population density, or to introduce a beneficial gene such as one that might interrupt disease transmission. This paper reviews both the population genetics and population dynamics of DEGs. It summarises the theory that guides the design of DEG constructs intended to perform different functions. It also reviews the studies that have explored the likelihood of resistance to DEG phenotypes arising, and how this risk may be reduced. The review is intended for a general audience and mathematical details are kept to a minimum. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0420-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-55946142017-09-15 How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors Godfray, H. Charles J. North, Ace Burt, Austin BMC Biol Review Driving endonuclease genes (DEGs) spread through a population by a non-Mendelian mechanism. In a heterozygote, the protein encoded by a DEG causes a double-strand break in the homologous chromosome opposite to where its gene is inserted and when the break is repaired using the homologue as a template the DEG heterozygote is converted to a homozygote. Some DEGs occur naturally while several classes of endonucleases can be engineered to spread in this way, with CRISPR-Cas9 based systems being particularly flexible. There is great interest in using driving endonuclease genes to impose a genetic load on insects that vector diseases or are economic pests to reduce their population density, or to introduce a beneficial gene such as one that might interrupt disease transmission. This paper reviews both the population genetics and population dynamics of DEGs. It summarises the theory that guides the design of DEG constructs intended to perform different functions. It also reviews the studies that have explored the likelihood of resistance to DEG phenotypes arising, and how this risk may be reduced. The review is intended for a general audience and mathematical details are kept to a minimum. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0420-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2017-09-11 /pmc/articles/PMC5594614/ /pubmed/28893259 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0420-4 Text en © Godfray et al. 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Review
Godfray, H. Charles J.
North, Ace
Burt, Austin
How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title_full How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title_fullStr How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title_full_unstemmed How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title_short How driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
title_sort how driving endonuclease genes can be used to combat pests and disease vectors
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5594614/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28893259
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0420-4
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