Standardizing the definition of gene drive

Abstract

Gene drive has become a hot topic in the popular press and the scientific literature, yet little consensus vocabulary on the subject exists. As members of the gene drive community, we have developed a core set of definitions to help stakeholders discuss the topic and communicate using a common understanding of terms. A standard consensus definition of gene drive and a glossary of terms, noted here, will be of great practical use to a field that has implications for both researchers and the general public. If we don’t clarify these terms, we risk hampering the field, confusing the public, and possibly losing a technology that may help solve some of the world’s most intractable problems in public health, conservation, and food security. We need to clarify gene drive terms, or we risk hampering the field, confusing the public, and losing a technology that may help solve otherwise intractable problems in public health, conservation, and food security. Image credit: Stephanie Gamez (University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA). Loosely, gene drive refers to a phenomenon whereby a particular heritable element biases inheritance in its favor, resulting in the gene becoming more prevalent in the population over successive generations. Thus, the gene is being “driven” to progressively increase its frequency in the population. Biasing inheritance may involve, for example, more than the familiar Mendelian 50:50 inheritance chance or reducing the fitness of alternative genotypes without directly distorting Mendelian inheritance. Highly efficient gene drives can bias inheritance so heavily in their favor that the heritable element can rapidly reach high frequency, close to doubling its frequency from one generation to the next. The speed of this process is inversely correlated with generation time of the organism (for example, mosquitos have a generation time of 2–4 weeks and rats have a generation time … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: oakbari{at}ucsd.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1