Suppression of female fertility in Aedes aegypti with a CRISPR-targeted male-sterile mutation

Significance Aedes aegypti are mosquitoes that transmit dengue and other viruses that infect millions of people annually. One approach to control Ae. aegypti is through the release of sterile males, which suppresses fertilization by fertile males following mating with sterile males. To generate sterile males, the current approach is to mutagenize mosquitoes nonspecifically, which reduces the health of the males. Here, we used genome editing to selectively disrupt a gene ( B2t ) that specifically affects male fertility. The mutant males were healthy and were effective in suppressing females from producing progeny with fertile males. These studies raise the possibility that the B2t mutation can be employed to improve the sterile insect technique and reduce diseases spread by Ae. aegypti .