Developing gene drive technologies to eradicate invasive rodents from islands

ABSTRACT

Island ecosystems are highly threatened by invasive rats and mice. Currently, the only effective technology for eradicating rodents from islands is toxicants. Though effective, they are expensive and have high failure rates. They are not species-specific and are potentially dangerous to humans. Gene drive technology is one alternative to toxicants for rodent eradication. Gene drive methods of rodent eradication offer an alternative to killing that has the potential to be more species-specific, more humane, and more biologically safe for use around humans. Technologies in development aim to apply either natural meiotic drive or clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats to influence offspring development so that all offspring are phenotypically male, eventually creating a population that is not reproductively viable. Implementing this technology would involve releasing laboratory-developed engineered mice into wild populations. Some areas for further research include assessing the ecological effects of releasing engineered mice, the potential risks for the accidental or deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into mainland mouse populations, and the social, ethical, and regulatory acceptability of the technology.

KEYWORDS:

• Invasive rodents
• eradication
• biodiversity
• gene drive
• CRISPR

Acknowledgements

Valuable comments and support were given from participants of the following conferences: ‘Roadmap to Gene Drives: A Deliberative Workshop to Develop Frameworks for Research and Governance’, February 24–26, 2016, sponsored by North Carolina State University and the National Science Foundation Grant No. 1533990 and ‘SRY Mice: An International Workshop on Invasive Rodents’, October 13–16, 2015, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service National Wildlife Research Center, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University, Island Conservation, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Caroline Leitschuh is a doctoral candidate in Zoology, a member of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center and a member of the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology all at North Carolina State University. She studies how rearing environment affects mouse anxiety-related and exploratory behavior, in the context of eradication of invasive mice from islands. She also is interested in facilitating communication between disparate scientific disciplines and between researchers and the public.

Dona Kanavy earned her bachelors of science in clinical laboratory science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. She is currently a PhD student in genetics at North Carolina State University, and is finishing her research at Texas A&M. The primary focus of her research is using genetic technology to eradicate invasive rodents from islands.

Gregory Backus received his PhD in Biomathematics and Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University and is a member of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center. Using mathematical models, he studies the ecology and evolution eradicating invasive populations with gene drive technology.

Rene Xavier Valdez is a PhD student in the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program at North Carolina State University. His research focuses at the intersections of conservation and society, exploring how global drivers such as climate change, urbanization, and advancing biotechnology are shaping biodiversity conservation.

Megan Serr is a PhD candidate in Zoology and a member of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University. She received her BS and MS degrees in biology and is a former science educator. Her focus is on reproductive behavior and secondary invasions in house mice.

Dr Elizabeth Pitts is an assistant professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. She studies how to better facilitate productive communication among citizens, scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders when deliberating about the application of biotechnologies.

David Threadgill is a distinguished professor and Director of the Texas A&M Institute of Genome Sciences and Society. His laboratory uses mouse models to investigate genetic factors that contribute to inter-individual differences in health and disease. They currently focus on cancer susceptibility.

John Godwin is a professor of biological sciences and a member of the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at North Carolina State University. Dr Godwin and his laboratory group study reproductive biology and the behavioral neuroendocrinology and neurogenomics of stress and anxiety in a number of models including the protogynous sex-changing bluehead wrasse, zebrafish, and wild-derived house mice.

ORCID

Dona Kanavy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4770-485X

Gregory A. Backus http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3695-8168

Megan Serr http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7599-6605

Additional information

Funding

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation [grant numbers 000166685 and 153390].