Preprint models how dominant-sterile target sites sharpen CRISPR gene-drive suppression of pest populations

CRISPR-based gene drive — a genetic technology designed to spread engineered traits through wild populations — is under active development as a strategy for controlling disease-vector insects and agricultural pests. A persistent challenge has been the generation of nonfunctional resistance alleles through end-joining DNA repair, which can slow or even reverse the suppressive effect of drive constructs targeting recessive fertility genes.

A preprint deposited on bioRxiv investigates how targeting a doublesex locus, which can produce dominant female-sterile alleles when disrupted, alters population-level dynamics. Because disrupted alleles generated at such a site are efficiently eliminated when inherited by females, the authors report that this target-site architecture accelerates population suppression by gene drive compared with recessive-target designs.

The work is primarily of interest to researchers working in population genetics, evolutionary biology, and the biosafety and governance dimensions of gene drive technology. It contributes to ongoing discussions about which genomic targets are best suited for suppression drives intended for eventual field deployment, a prospect that remains subject to regulatory and ecological review in all jurisdictions.

The preprint has not yet undergone peer review.