Exploring gene drives in marine contexts.
Kia ora, I’m Jack and I’m keen on conservation and biotechnology and how these can work together to help restore New Zealand’s incredible and diverse environments.
Having completed my undergraduate and master’s degrees in biotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington on the directed evolution of bacterial proteins, I sought a break from the indoor laboratory and worked as a Ranger for the Department of Conservation for several years. This work saw me largely controlling invasive plants and animals in the backcountry of the lower North Island and top of the south. Motivated by these two backgrounds, I find myself back in the laboratory to combine the two disciplines.
As a PhD student in the Gemmell lab and at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, I am exploring the feasibility of using gene drives to control invasive species in a marine context. Specifically, I am developing a proof-of-principle gene drive to work in the invasive ascidian Ciona savignyi. This work involves genomic analysis, population modelling, and assessing methods for gene drive containment.
Contact details:
Publications:
- Kelly, L. T., Sissons, J., Thompson, L., & Pearman, J. K. (2024). Faecal source apportionment using molecular methods: A proof of concept using the FEAST algorithm. Water Research, 266, 122365.
- Brown, A. S., Sissons, J. A., Owen, J. G., & Ackerley, D. F. (2020). Directed evolution of the nonribosomal peptide synthetase BpsA to enable recognition by the human phosphopantetheinyl transferase for counter-screening antibiotic candidates. ACS Infectious Diseases, 6(11), 2879-2886.
- Prosser, G. A., Williams, E. M., Sissons, J. A., Walmsley, K. E., Parker, M. R., & Ackerley, D. F. (2015). A gain-of-function positive-selection expression plasmid that enables high-efficiency cloning. Biotechnology letters, 37, 383-389.