How could a species be engineered to go extinct?

Question

Non-biology background here.I read this very interesting article: https://www.wired.com/story/crispr-eradicate-invasive-species/However I am having a hard time wrapping my head around something:From my basic understanding of natural selection, a gene/trait will spread if it gives the group a relatively higher chance of having children, who will pass on the trait, etc.However in this example, the trait is **infertility**! Doesn't it go completely against natural selection? How could this spread??

Answer 1

Hi,

I have not read this particular article, but I am familiar with the "infertility" approach to pest control. The basic idea is instead of using pesticides to kill the offending creature (and pollute the planet further), we use our knowledge of reproductive biology. For example, if the males of species X (let's say an insect that eats an important crop OR carries a nasty parasitic disease) can be engineered to be sterile, we can decrease the numbers of the pest fairly dramatically over a short time. The insect has a short life cycle, and the males fertilize many eggs. So, engineering the males to not be able to copulate or not produce sperm is pretty effective at control. Your comment - "who will pass on this trait" is exactly on target. I hope this helps a bit.