Imperial College London
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Nikolai Windbichler

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Reader in Genetics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 1650n.windbichler

 
 
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Location

 

Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Nash:2018:10.1101/356998,
author = {Nash, A and Urdaneta, GM and K, Beaghton A and Hoermann, A and Aris, Papathanos P and Christophides, GK and Windbichler, N},
doi = {10.1101/356998},
title = {Integral Gene Drives: an “operating system” for population replacement},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/356998},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>First generation CRISPR-based gene drives have now been tested in the laboratory in a number of organisms including malaria vector mosquitoes. A number of challenges for their use in the area-wide genetic control of vector-borne disease have been identified. These include the development of target site resistance, their long-term efficacy in the field, their molecular complexity, and the practical and legal limitations for field testing of both gene drive and coupled anti-pathogen traits. To address these challenges, we have evaluated the concept of Integral Gene Drive (IGD) as an alternative paradigm for population replacement. IGDs incorporate a minimal set of molecular components, including both the drive and the anti-pathogen effector elements directly embedded within endogenous genes – an arrangement which we refer to as gene “hijacking”. This design would allow autonomous and non-autonomous IGD traits and strains to be generated, tested, optimized, regulated and imported independently. We performed quantitative modelling comparing IGDs with classical replacement drives and show that selection for the function of the hijacked host gene can significantly reduce the establishment of resistant alleles in the population while hedging drive over multiple genomic loci prolongs the duration of transmission blockage in the face of pre-existing target-site variation. IGD thus has the potential to yield more durable and flexible population replacement traits.</jats:p>
AU  - Nash,A
AU  - Urdaneta,GM
AU  - K,Beaghton A
AU  - Hoermann,A
AU  - Aris,Papathanos P
AU  - Christophides,GK
AU  - Windbichler,N
DO  - 10.1101/356998
PY  - 2018///
TI  - Integral Gene Drives: an “operating system” for population replacement
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/356998
ER  -
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