Highly efficient Cas9-mediated gene drive for population modification of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles stephensi

Genetic engineering technologies can be used both to create transgenic mosquitoes carrying antipathogen effector genes targeting human malaria parasites and to generate gene-drive systems capable of introgressing the genes throughout wild vector populations. We developed a highly effective autonomous Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (Cas9)-mediated gene-drive system in the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi, adapted from the mutagenic chain reaction (MCR). This specific system results in progeny of males and females derived from transgenic males exhibiting a high frequency of germ-line gene conversion consistent with homology-directed repair (HDR).…

• WM
  W. M. Keck Foundation

  Award: KF55825
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

  Awards: AI070654, AI29746, AI116433
• NI
  National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

  Award: NS029870