School of Biological Sciences, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Daniel J Brogan
School of Biological Sciences, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Igor Antoshechkin
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering (BBE), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
Héctor M Sánchez C
Divisions of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
Yinpeng Zhan
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Neuroscience Research, Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
Nicolas A DeBeaubien
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Neuroscience Research, Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
YuMin M Loh
Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Neuroscience Research, Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States
Divisions of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States; Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, United States
Each year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with arboviruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika, which are all primarily spread by the notorious mosquito Aedes aegypti. Traditional control measures have proven insufficient, necessitating innovations. In response, here we generate a next-generation CRISPR-based precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) for Ae. aegypti that disrupts genes essential for sex determination and fertility, producing predominantly sterile males that can be deployed at any life stage. Using mathematical models and empirical testing, we demonstrate that released pgSIT males can effectively compete with, suppress, and eliminate caged mosquito populations. This versatile species-specific platform has the potential for field deployment to effectively control wild populations of disease vectors.
