When the team tested the system in mice in the lab over one generation, the gene drive disabled 80 per cent of the fertility genes. To this existing drive, the researchers added a component that mutates a gene essential for female fertility. This results in 95 per cent of offspring inheriting the t haplotype. The natural gene drive, called the t haplotype, works by slowing the swimming speed of all sperm unless they carry the gene drive, which encodes a counter mechanism. So Thomas and his colleagues instead started with a natural gene drive common in mice and modified it so that it makes female house mice ( Mus musculus) infertile. However, CRISPR-based gene drives don’t work well in mammals, for reasons that aren’t understood. Evolution is evolving: 13 ways we must rethink the theory of natureĭo species really exist? Are genes destiny? Do only the fittest survive? Can we shape or stop evolution? New insights into nature are providing surprising answers, and a glorious new picture of life’s complexity
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