Overview

GeneDrive.jl is a Julia package designed for simulating biological dynamics and control. The current implementation focuses on genetic-based public health interventions that modify populations of disease vectors, including mosquitoes of the Aedes and Anopheles genera.

The package furnishes a three-part framework for building and analyzing simulations wherein metapopulations are subject to anthropogenic and environmental change:

• Data models that structure inputs to experimental setups and exploit the power of Julia's type system for multiple dispatch.
• Dynamic models that build on the DifferentialEquations.jl platform.
• Decision models that employ JuMP.jl, the domain-specific modeling language for mathematical optimization embedded in Julia.

Installation and usage

GeneDrive.jl will work with Julia version 1.7 and above. Add the package with:

julia> Pkg.add(GeneDrive)

Begin using the package with:

julia> using GeneDrive

What's with the name?

Gene drives include both naturally occurring and synthetic genetic elements. They have been harnessed by scientists for potential use in biological control (e.g.: public health, agriculture, conservation). "Drive" simply refers to these genetic elements being inherited with a high probability. Therefore, their frequency in a population grows quickly - and at the expense of the wildtype population.

While this package is not exclusively applicable to gene drive research, its name is a nod to this new technological horizon in biological control.

Citing GeneDrive.jl

[Insert paper citation/bioarxiv link]