Transforming insect population control with precision guided sterile males with demonstration in flies.
Nikolay P Kandul, Junru Liu, Hector M Sanchez C, Sean L Wu, John M Marshall, Omar S Akbari
Nature communications · 2019-Jan-08 · PMID 30622266 · DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-07964-7Abstract
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environmentally safe and proven technology to suppress wild populations. To further advance its utility, a novel CRISPR-based technology termed precision guided SIT (pgSIT) is described. PgSIT mechanistically relies on a dominant genetic technology that enables simultaneous sexing and sterilization, facilitating the release of eggs into the environment ensuring only sterile adult males emerge. Importantly, for field applications, the release of eggs will eliminate burdens of manually sexing and sterilizing males, thereby reducing overall effort and increasing scalability. Here, to demonstrate efficacy, we systematically engineer multiple pgSIT systems in Drosophila which consistently give rise to 100% sterile males. Importantly, we demonstrate that pgSIT-generated sterile males are fit and competitive. Using mathematical models, we predict pgSIT will induce substantially greater population suppression than can be achieved by currently-available self-limiting suppression technologies. Taken together, pgSIT offers to potentially transform our ability to control insect agricultural pests and disease vectors.
Evidence profile
- Study type
- modeling
- Text reviewed by the copilot
- Full text is available
- Publication status
- published
- Corrections or retractions
- none
- Conflict statement
- N.P.K. and O.S.A. have submitted a provisional patent application on this technology. Patent information is as follows: ENDONUCLEASE SEXING AND STERILIZATION IN INSECTS Patent application under the PCT (1618008-WO-UC Ref2018-278-2.-PCT) filled on Nov 19 2018. N.P.K.and O.S.A. via the University of California Riverside “Reproducible and 100% consistent method to sex and create large number of sterile yet competitive insect males as F1 progeny of gRNA and Cas9 lines.” O.S.A. is a co-founder of a new startup company named Agragene. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.