In
the normal course of evolution, any specific trait has only a modest chance of being inherited by offspring, but with the development of sophisticated gene editing systems like the CRISPR-Cas9, researchers can now design systems that increase the likelihood of inheritance of a desired trait to nearly 100 percent, even if that trait confers a selective disadvantage. These so-called gene drives could replace wild-type genes in short generations.Those powerful systems raise serious safety concerns, such as what happens if a genetically-engineered mosquito accidentally escapes from a lab? We all know about the recent efforts to fight zika and other mosquito borne disease. But there are several questions and facts pertaining to the safety of this approach that go unanswered, and uncertain. How many mosquitos would you need to replace the disease-carrying wild type? What is the most effective distribution pattern? How could you stop a premature release of the engineered mosquitos?
In a quest to find answers to these questions pertaining to possible irreversible damage to the ecosystem, applied mathematicians and physicists from Harvard and Princeton Universities used mathematical modelling to guide the design and distribution of genetically modified genes that can both effectively replace wild mosquitoes and be safely controlled.
“An accidental or premature release of a gene drive construct to the natural environment could damage an ecosystem irreversibly,” said Hidenori Tanaka, first author of the paper and graduate student in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Physics Department.
The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details how the researchers used nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations to model how genes would move through space. These models provided a framework to develop socially responsible gene drives that balance the genetically-engineered traits with embedded weaknesses that would protect against accidental release and uncontrollable spreading. In order to reach that critical mass, the researchers found that genes needed to be released intensely in a specific region—like a genetic bomb—rather than spread thinly throughout larger regions. The genes spread only when the nucleus of the genetic explosion exceeds a critical size and intensity.
The researchers also found that by making gene drives susceptible to a compound harmless to wildtype genes, the spread of gene drives can be stopped by barriers like pesticides.
“We can, in effect, construct switches that initiate and terminate the gene drive wave,” said Tanaka. “In one, carefully chosen regime, the spatial spreading of the wave starts or progresses only when the parameters of the inoculation exceed critical values that we can calculate.”
“This research illustrates how physicists and applied mathematicians can build on results of biological experimentation and theory to contribute to the growing field of spatial population genetics,” concluded Nelson.
