Genetic Engineering Publications - GEG Tech top picks

Using genetic data from four populations of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum , the scientists show that most populations harbor genetic variants in Cas9 target sites, some of which would render them immune to drive (ITD). They show that even a rare ITD allele can reduce or eliminate the efficacy of a CRISPR/Cas9-based synthetic gene drive. This effect is equivalent to and accentuated by mild inbreeding, which is a characteristic of many disease-vectoring arthropods. They conclude that designing such drives will require characterization of genetic variability and the mating system within and among targeted populations.