A recent manuscript published on Genes Genomes Genetics by Reid et al (2018) reports an exciting improvement to piggyBac-based promoter-trap designed in Anopheles stephensi. The development of this new piggyBac-based promoter-trap designs provides further knowledge and exciting venues to examine […]
Anopheles
Forward Genetic Analysis of Mosquito/Parasite Interactions
Dong et al. (2018) in a recent paper in PLOS Pathogens describe the results of the genetic inactivation of a broad-spectrum agonist of the malaria parasite, FREP1 (fibrinogen-related protein 1, member of an immune and pattern recognition gene family called […]
Gene Drives and the Potential Benefits of CRISPR Technology
Marshall and Akbari review a range of different proposed gene drive systems and discuss ways in which CRISPR may be useful in engineering them in a recent issue of ACS Chemical Biology. In the years since translocations were first suggested […]
A Protocol for the Highly Efficient Generation of Stable Mosquito Knockout Lines Using CRISPR/Cas9
In their recent paper in G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, Li et al. describe a highly efficient protocol for the generation of stable knockout lines using CRISPR/Cas9. The ability of effectively targeting and disrupting gene function is essential for gene functional analysis studies […]
Yeast Interfering RNA Larvicides
Mysore et al. recently reported in the Malaria Journal their successful development of a number of Anopheles larvicides consisting of yeast expressing specific siRNAs. RNAi has attracted considerable attention as a pest control tool, particularly in the agricultural space. In […]
Vertical and Horizontal Transmission in Paratransgenic Anopheles Mosquitoes
Wang et al. (2017) report results in Science that appear to make significant progress toward solving one of the more challenging problems associated with using paratransgenic approaches for sustainable insect phenotype modification. Paratransgenesis is an interesting concept involving the genetic […]
Driving Transgenes with Disassortative Mating
Pike et al. (2017) in a recent publication in Science describe a novel approach to rapidly increasing transgene frequencies in mosquito populations (‘gene drive’) for the purposes of reducing or eliminating Plasmodium transmission. There is increasing attention within the insect […]
Modeling Gene Drives in Africa – Seasonal, Spatial and Epidemiological Considerations
Gene drive as a tool for fighting malaria has received much attention because of promising results in the laboratory. Moving these technologies to the field is complicated and Eckoff et al (2016) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of […]
The QF/QUAS System in Anopheles gambiae
Riabinina et al. (2016) recently published research on the olfactory centers of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, which may be of interest to the broader insect genomic research community, not only for what it reveals, but because of the technical […]
CRISPR-SD, a programmable Cas9 approach to generating X-shredder lines in insects with XY mating systems
In a recent paper in Scientific Reports, Galizi, Hammond, et al report on the use of CRISPR-Cas9 to develop a sex-distortion system in Anopheles gambiae, which they termed CRISPRSD. Earlier, the group had demonstrated that transgenic An. gambaie expressing the […]