Genetically altering grey squirrel fertility could help the native red say scientists – iNews

Genetically engineering female grey squirrels to make them infertile could be a highly effective way to control their numbers and make way for declining red squirrel populations, a study has found.

Conservationists have long sought to reduce numbers of invasive grey squirrels, which were imported as curiosities from the US in the 1890s and started to wreak havoc on the UKs native red squirrels.

Grey squirrels carry a disease a parapoxvirus -which does not appear to affect their health but often kills red squirrels. Greys are more likely to eat green acorns, so will decimate the food source before they ripen and the reds can make use of them.

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Scientists are working on a new technique to alter their genetic makeup and, using computer modelling, they have demonstrated its potential to significantly reduce grey squirrel numbers.

The next step is to perfect the gene altering technique, which is well advanced in insects but still needs quite a lot of development before it could be used in rodents.

It would also require regulatory approval and probably public acceptance before it was used in the real world, although the Government is actively considering relaxing restrictions on gene editing.

The technique involves tweaking a key female fertility gene in a group of grey squirrels and releasing them into the wild.

Nicky Faber, who did the research at Edinburgh University and is now a PhD candidate at WageningenUniversity and Research in the Netherlands, said: The modelling shows that the technique is very effective at reducing the population size. It will spread through the population so after a certain number of generations, all grey squirrels will have the engineered gene and this will cause a lot of females to be infertile.

The programme would probably require an annual release of newly engineered grey squirrels, with numbers depending on factors such as the local population and the effectiveness of the technique in real life, she said.

The technique also has broader applications.

Ms Faber said: This technology is exciting because it could help solve some other big challenges: to control or immunize malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, to immunize vulnerable species threatened by a pathogen, or to control agricultural pests.

It is more humane than current pest control measures such as shooting, trapping, and poisoning. Also, it is more sustainable as it is species-specific, so it has no negative effects to other species.

A lot of research still needs to be done to make the technology practically applicable, but once it is, the technology could be a great tool in our conservation toolbox, she said.

Professor Luke Alphey, of the Pirbright Institute in London, who was not involved in the research said: Regulatory approval and public acceptance would obviously be essential before any actual use of such technology that is a long way off, but this paper indicates that gene drives could be a valuable tool in the conservation toolbox.

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Genetically altering grey squirrel fertility could help the native red say scientists - iNews