A Synthetic Maternal-Effect Selfish Genetic Element Drives Population Replacement in Drosophila

CH Chen, H Huang, CM Ward, JT Su, LV Schaeffer… - science, 2007 - science.org
CH Chen, H Huang, CM Ward, JT Su, LV Schaeffer, M Guo, BA Hay
science, 2007science.org
One proposed strategy for controlling the transmission of insect-borne pathogens uses a
drive mechanism to ensure the rapid spread of transgenes conferring disease refractoriness
throughout wild populations. Here, we report the creation of maternal-effect selfish genetic
elements in Drosophila that drive population replacement and are resistant to recombination-
mediated dissociation of drive and disease refractoriness functions. These selfish elements
use microRNA-mediated silencing of a maternally expressed gene essential for …
One proposed strategy for controlling the transmission of insect-borne pathogens uses a drive mechanism to ensure the rapid spread of transgenes conferring disease refractoriness throughout wild populations. Here, we report the creation of maternal-effect selfish genetic elements in Drosophila that drive population replacement and are resistant to recombination-mediated dissociation of drive and disease refractoriness functions. These selfish elements use microRNA-mediated silencing of a maternally expressed gene essential for embryogenesis, which is coupled with early zygotic expression of a rescuing transgene.
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