Small-molecule control of super-Mendelian inheritance in gene drives

By surpassing the 50% inheritance limit of Mendels law of independent assortment, CRISPR-based gene drives have the potential to fight vector-borne diseases or suppress crop pests. However, contemporary gene drives could spread unchecked, posing safety concerns that limit their use in both laboratory and field settings. Current technologies also lack chemical control strategies, which could be applied in the field for dose, spatial and temporal control of gene drives. We describe in Drosophila the first gene-drive system controlled by an engineered Cas9 and a synthetic, orally-available small molecule.\n\n\n\nO_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=51 SRC=\"FIGDIR/small/665620v1_ufig1.gif\" ALT=\"Figure 1\">\nView larger version (15K):\norg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1aa8522org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@a99c8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f63636org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1613408_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical AbstractC_FLOATNO C_FIG