ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2003
Site-specific selfish genes as tools for the control and genetic engineering of natural populations.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 321 papers.
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Who cites it
321 citing papers in PubMed, 737 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mosquito-based malaria control through genetic, microbial and immunological innovations.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
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- Engineering resilient gene drives for sustainable malaria control by predicting, testing and overcoming target site resistance in Anopheles gambiae.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- From gametocides to gene drive: natural transmission distortion systems as tools for cereal breeding.Journal of applied genetics · 2026Review
- A simulation-based deep learning framework for spatially explicit malaria modeling of CRISPR suppression gene drive mosquitoes.iScience · 2026Article
- Sex distorter male drive for resistance-resilient population control of the human malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Experimental and modeling demonstration of stronger population suppression by gene drive targeting doublesex from dominant female-sterile resistance alleles.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The LAST Mile: Evaluating Genetic Biocontrol as a Supplemental Tool for Eradicating Invasive Rodents on Islands.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Seed dormancy shapes gene drive dynamics in plants.Nature plants · 2026Article
- Knowledge, perspectives, and risk perceptions on gene drive and genetically modified mosquitoes for malaria control among African stakeholders: a scoping review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- The evolutionary genomics of meiotic drive.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Integrating mosquito genomics into simulation modeling: opportunities for better-informed biocontrol.Current opinion in insect science · 2026Review
- Leveraging sex determination systems for genetic biocontrol of dipteran pests.Current opinion in insect science · 2026Review
- Mapping Gene Drive Dynamics onto Mendelian Models.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Synthetic Biology of Plants and Microbes for Agriculture, Environment, and Future Applications.Chemical reviews · 2026Review
- Article
- Article
- Strategies to improve the efficiency of homing gene drives with multiplexed gRNAs.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Predicting the invasiveness of threshold-dependent gene drives.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
261 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Site-specific selfish genes exploit host functions to copy themselves into a defined target DNA sequence, and include homing endonuclease genes, group II introns and some LINE-like transposable elements. If such genes can be engineered to target new host sequences, then they can be used to manipulate natural populations, even if the number of individuals released is a small fraction of the entire population. For example, a genetic load sufficient to eradicate a population can be imposed in fewer than 20 generations, if the target is an essential host gene, the knockout is recessive and the selfish gene has an appropriate promoter. There will be selection for resistance, but several strategies are available for reducing the likelihood of it evolving. These genes may also be used to genetically engineer natural populations, by means of population-wide gene knockouts, gene replacements and genetic transformations. By targeting sex-linked loci just prior to meiosis one may skew the population sex ratio, and by changing the promoter one may limit the spread of the gene to neighbouring populations. The proposed constructs are evolutionarily stable in the face of the mutations most likely to arise during their spread, and strategies are also available for reversing the manipulations.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.