Gene Drive Technology

Facts for Prelims

Gene Drive Technology

News: Recently genetic manipulation of mosquitoes is discussed which will lead to control of their populations by interfering with their reproduction.

What is Gene Drive Technology?
• Gene drive technology is a type of genetic engineering technique that modifies genes so that they don’t follow the typical rules of heredity. Gene drives dramatically increase the likelihood that a particular suite of genes will be passed onto the next generation, allowing the genes to rapidly spread through a population and override natural selection.
• The fundamental idea behind genetic manipulation of mosquitoes is to systematically control their populations by interfering with their reproduction.
• The objective of Gene Drive Technology is for mosquitoes to selectively inherit some genes, rather than the inheritance to follow the rules of Mendelian genetics.

How does it work?
• A gene drive consists of three key components: the gene that you want to spread; the Cas9 enzyme that can cut DNA; and CRISPR, a programmable DNA sequence that identifies where the enzyme should cut. The genetic material that encodes for those three elements gets inserted into an animal’s DNA, in place of the naturally occurring gene you want to replace in both chromosomes.