Cas9 Expression in Mosquito Germlines Could Help Prevent Disease Spread

Pathogenic arboviruses, including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika, are all spread by the mosquito Aedes aegypti . Researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), have now developed transgenic strains of this mosquito that stably express the Cas9 enzyme in their germline, making CRISPR genome editing fast and efficient and opening up the potential to develop "gene drive" strategies for controlling mosquito populations in the wild.As an initial proof of concept, the resea