Optimal release of gene drives in population connectivity networks

Gene drives, genetic constructs that can spread deleterious alleles in wild populations, have the potential to address some of the major pressing challenges of the Anthropocene such as invasive species, spread of disease vectors, and agricultural pests. However, responsible and effective deployment of gene drive requires taking into account the complex nature of real-world population connectivity networks. In particular, it is unclear how the topological position of the deployment site affects the spread process and its final outcome. Here we develop a framework for modeling gene drive spread in population connectivity networks, and study the eco-evolutionary dynamics of gene drive spread under complex population structures. We investigated the relationship between the position of the deployment site in the topology of the network and whether the gene drive is eventually lost, fixed, or maintained at an intermediate frequency. We identified network centrality measures of deployment sites that are highly correlated with the outcome of deployment for different gene drive designs and across diverse network topologies. We also show that there is a trade-off between the time-to-fixation and the final outcome, implying that multiple centrality measures of the deployment site would need to be considered when aiming to achieve rapid and successful population control using gene drives.