Rafael A. Homem

CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knockout of the white gene in the bluetongue virus vector, Culicoides sonorensis (biting midge)

The first instance of gene editing in C. sonorensis is reported, achieved by intrathoracic injection of adult females with Cas9 and sgRNAs targeting the white gene, generating heritable mutations in the white gene which produced both white eye and red eye phenotypes and establishing a homozygous knockout line carrying a single mutation.