Seth Bordenstein: Cytoplasmic Incompatibility and Male Killing Mechanisms

Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Professor of Microbiome Sciences, Seth Bordenstein, presented to the Carnegie Institution for Science on November 14, 2022 on the genetic and mechanistic bases of how bacterial symbionts (Wolbachia) and their bacteriophage genes modify animal gametes and embryos to cause cytoplasmic incompatibility and male killing. These selfish drive systems rapidly spread the bacteria through host arthropod populations. This research is revealing the inner workings of how symbionts can also be used to curb the transmission of dengue and Zika viruses from mosquitoes to humans.