Gene Drives

Selfish genetic elements colonize genomes, often at a cost to the organism. Examples include: segregation distorters, B chromosomes, homing endonucleases, transposable elements, insertion sequences. Toxin-antitoxin cassettes underlie much selfish behavior. Examples are drawn from post-segregational killing by conjugative plasmids, spore killing in fungi, Medea drives in Tribolium, Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility, meiotic drives and sex ratio distorters. The application and possible complications of releasing synthetic drives to control pests and disease vectors are discussed, with an emphasis on the impact of population structures on their spread and containment.