The Spatial Spread and the Persistence of Gene Drives Are Affected by Demographic Feedbacks, Density Dependence and Allee Effects.

ABSTRACT: Homing gene drive alleles bias their own transmission by converting wild-type alleles into drive alleles. If introduced in a natural population, they might fix within a relatively small number of generations, even if they are deleterious. No engineered homing gene drive organisms have been released in the wild so far, and modelling is essential to develop a clear understanding of the potential outcomes of such releases. We use deterministic models to investigate how different demographic features affect the spatial spread of a gene drive. Building on previous work, we first consider the effect of the intrinsic population growth rate on drive spread. We confirm that including demographic dynamics can change outcomes compared to a model ignoring changes in population sizes because changes in

SUBMITTER: Klay L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329647 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature